Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: fermi de Sousa on October 01, 2009, 02:53:54 AM
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To start the month off, here's one of my favourite Aussie native plants, Eutaxia microphylla (prostrate form) which looks like a creeping conifer till spring when it bursts into flower!
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cheers
fermi
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Nice, Fermi. Not one I think I've ever seen before. 8)
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Is it related to Yew? I really like it Fermi :)
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It is one of the "bacon and egg" plants, with pea flowers in yellow and red/brown colouration. A member of the Fabaceae family I think.
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Another popular plant is the Veltheimia genus.
In late winter and spring they produce waxy flowers, which resemble dwarf pokers (Kniphofia ssp.) and attractive foliage.
The tubular flowers are upright when in bud and pendulous when open, and make attractive long-lasting cut flowers.
They are beautiful plants, well suited to growing in milder climates, and are generally most successful when grown in containers in sandy well-drained mix.
Veltheimia bracteata is the species mostly grown, and has flowers in various shade of (rose) pink with greenish tips. Several outstanding colour forms have been selected, some of which pictures I will show. Enjoy.
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Maggi, my last Veltheimia posting should have been in the October 2009 - Southern Hemisphere - Spring forum.
Sorry about that chief. :-[ :-[ :-[
Edit by Maggi.... nae probs, Bill.... just added another choc bar to your IOU to me! ;D
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Bill,
Great Velts. I have your first bicolor one as well, plus a couple of pink shades. I have tried for the pure yellow from seed, but that is where my bicolors came from (so it wasn't quite that bad that they weren't correct, as they are so beautiful). I quite like your greeny bicolor at the end too. There are also variegated forms as well apparently, although I have never been able to source them as yet. I'm hoping to grow the yellow and the variegateds one of these years. ;D
Thanks for the excellent pics of these. Wonderful to see them all together.
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Another popular plant is the Veltheimia genus.
In late winter and spring they produce waxy flowers, which resemble dwarf pokers (Kniphofia ssp.) and attractive foliage.
The tubular flower are upright when in bud and pendulous when open, and make attractive long-lasting cut flowers.
They are beautiful plants, well suited to growing in milder climates, and are generally most successful when grown in containers in sandy well-drained mix.
Veltheimia bracteata is the species mostly grown, and has flowers in various shade of (rose) pink with greenish tips. Several outstanding colour forms have been selected, some of which pictures I will show. Enjoy.
very striking! they certainly do look like aloaceae/asphodelaceae (whichever name is in favour now) are they? i cant remember though i know i've seen the name listed oft enough...
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Bill,
Love the veltheimias. My wife, Mary, has a few big potfuls of V. bracteata and they annually provide a lovely display, round about Christmas time here.
I haven't seen V. aurea or V. bicolor available here and must look out for them. They are outstanding.
Good post, many thanks, Paddy
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Is it related to Yew? I really like it Fermi :)
Well it was a reasonable question Paul. Yewtaxia? and Yew is Taxus of course so whichever way you looked at it.... :D
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::) ::)
:P ;)
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So what are the differences between lahue and your quariemana? I'll definitely keep an eye out for pulchella.
Herbertia quareimana according to Alberto Castello is a species not well known, but the difference, as far as I am concerned is mainly in the colour of the flower, with perhaps slight differences in the markings, according to the experts. The botanists of course don't always agree either.
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Two more closup images of the colourful Moraea species flowering for us, Moraea elegans and Moraea lurida, not very well known species, originally imported seed from Silverhill Seeds, SA.
Do you grow these species Paul?
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Bill,
I grow lurida (although not nearly as strongly a coloured variant as those in your pic... I particularly like the darker one on the left) but I don't grow elegans. I don't have any of the old Homeria types as I recall. That green and gold looks most suitable to be grown by aussies!! :D Both are very nice.
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Another little treasure making its debut is the charming Sanguinaria canadensis "Flore Pleno" aka bloodroot.
Its a good plant for the woodland area, shaded rock gardend or the alpine house.
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Lovely, Bill! 8)
Here's a couple of things in flower here at the moment. I'll add a few more in the next couple of days, then work back through the last few weeks and add those to the September topic.
Sparaxis meterlekampiae is a rather different member of the genus. This was one of those things that was originally off in another family and then got moved to Sparaxis.
Notholirion thompsonianum isn't actually mine (I should be honest! ;D) but is rather in a friend's garden. I've never seen it in flower before as it has never done so for me. Very nice. Bigger flowers than I expected.
Please click on the pic for a larger version.
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Sanguinaria canadensis "Flore Pleno" aka bloodroot
Bill, your photo shows a really pretty little plant but how hardy is it and does it like damp woodland? Also why is it called bloodroot?
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The blood root has reddish roots which exude red liquid when broken :o
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zome
Bill, your photo shows a really pretty little plant but how hardy is it and does it like damp woodland? Also why is it called bloodroot?
Hi Robin, according to the gardeners encyclopedia the plant is fully hardy, grows in sun or semi-shade and in humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil. Should be ok for your woodlands provided you give it the right growing conditions. Hope this was helpful.
And as Brian mentioned before, when rhizome is cut will bleed red liquid.
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The flowers of these unusual bulbs from South Africa in many ways resemble starfish.
Their crisp-edged stars occur in a range of unusual dusky shades of brown, yellow, violet and blue, and the scent can be reminiscent of carrion or sweet almond, depending on the species.
They are easy bulbs to grow, although all except F.crispa can be difficult too obtain.
They enjoy loamy soil in sun or semi-shade.
Ferraria crispa is the one producing the unpleasant odour, as is evident by the blow-flies on the flowers (covered in orange pollen) and the irrisistable smell of the flowers.
Ferraria crispa.
Ferraria densepunctulata.
Ferraria foliosa.
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What astounding flowers!
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Those are amazing flowers Bill. I never imagined such things in either Moraea or Ferraria. I must next year visit my Tauranga sister in the springtime. ;D
Funny that nowadays the double form of bloodroot is so much easier to obtain (here in NZ anyway) than the single which to my mind is more beautiful though it drops its petals in a very few days, compared with the longer lasting double form.
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Bill your photos are superb. I have the common Ferraria flowering too now.
Urginea maritima not flowering but just as good and surrounded by Gladiolus tristus(?)
And from the top - standing on a chair next to it and aiming the camera in the general direction - lots of attempts!
Does anyone know the Gladiolus? I received it as charming watsonia.
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robin--its not called Sanguinaria (from sanguis-- blood) 'canadensis' for nothing ;) -native to eastern north america, should be hardy for you; roots have been used to produce red dye..
bill--the ferraria are striking! thanks for continuing to introduce us to cool plants :)
arillady--(sorry forget your name?)-that is a nice vignette with the urginea and gladiolus..
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Pat,
There is a Glad 'Charming Lady' and 'Charming Beauty' I think. Maybe that was what they mixed up in the name?
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Cyrtanthus falcatus is a beautiful trouble-free plant from KwaZulu-Natal which just finished flowering. The "shepherd's crook" inflorescence emerges without warning in late spring and early summer. It is red or pinkish flushed green with a hint of yellow exterior of the tube and is soon followed by the broad bright green foliage. This is a remarkably tough species and the bulbs can withstand some moisture provided the soil medium is sharply drained during the dormant period
Does any forumist grow this not so well known species? How does it perform for you?
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I do, Bill. I've never managed to flower it though. What conditions do you grow it in that stimulate it to flowering? I had been told that the winter drought starts it flowering, but you now say that yours flower with water in winter as well? Is it really supposed to be dormant until late spring/early summer? Mine came out of dormancy a few weeks ago, just leaves much to my chagrin. Do you fertilise? Details! Details!! I am jealous as anything. ;D
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I do, Bill. I've never managed to flower it though. What conditions do you grow it in that stimulate it to flowering? I had been told that the winter drought starts it flowering, but you now say that yours flower with water in winter as well? Is it really supposed to be dormant until late spring/early summer? Mine came out of dormancy a few weeks ago, just leaves much to my chagrin. Do you fertilise? Details! Details!! I am jealous as anything. ;D
It requires a "sharply drained" growing medium such as equal parts of coarse river sand and pumice with a little compost and perhaps some slow release fertiliser added. The bulbs are planted with the entire neck and about one third of the bulb exposed. It does best in a lightly shaded position or one receiving morning sun and afternoon shade. A thorough watering recommended every fortnight from mid-spring to the end of the summer growing period, until the leaves begin to turn yellow and die back in autumn. During late autumn and throughout the winter months, the potting mix should preferably be kept on the dry site, but the posting should read that the bulbs can withstand some moisture provided the soil medium is sharply drained. The bulbs are gregarious and should be allowed to form thick clumps, which does promote flowering and left undisturbed for at least five years, until clumps become too thick and flowering performance diminishes. I have altered the wording in the previous posting, hope this was helpful
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Bill,
Bummer. I have treated them exactly as you have outlined, right down to the drainage and morning sun. I grew mine from seed a number of years ago and they are now large bulbs, but I have never had any signs of any offsets from them.... ever. Now the C. montanus on the other hand offsets like a weed, but also never flowers for me. ::) Do you grow and flower it as well?
Thansk so much for all the info. Given your outline of how to grow it, I'm stumped on what I am doing wrong. Perhaps I just need to fertilise more, although I have tended to be pretty rare with it as so many of the South African stuff is like the aussie stuff and doesn't like much fertiliser. Hmmmmm..... :-\
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Cyrtanthus falcatus
Bill - How on earth do you manage to grow so many beauties, all to such perfection? Enjoying your postings immensely.
I only grow Cyrtanthus brachyschyphus, not the showiest but it certainly is easy and gives a good long show.
Can you recommend a source of this Cyrtanthus along with C. macowanii and obliquus? The usual SA seed suppliers never seem to have these, ditto Lachenalia viridiflora.
A question, last spring I planted seed of Blandfordiae punicea and they are not up yet; maybe the lack of a cold period caused this. I wonder how big the seeds were, I dig around and can't find them. Seems to me they were tiny? Can you confirm?
johnw
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Bill, you might like to say a few words about the Tauranga climate which is so different from mine, for instance.
Here are 5 quite unrelated plants which are flowering at present. There are one or two new dwarf bearded irises out each day at present, but the rain and snow have done for some of them. Fine and sunny today but with a hard frost. Poor old North Island is getting a full on return to deepest winter with 30cms snow on the Desert road the night before last.
Small enough for a sunny trough, this little gem is 'Jelly Bean.' I need to check with the catalogue (temporarily mislaid) as I would have expected 'Jelly Bean' to have been red, for some reason, but I suppose there ARE black jbs. I always preferred the red and white ones, myself.
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Primula juliae is under discussion in its own thread. Here is the genuine article, again, damaged by rain and snow.
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Draba bryoides imbricata invaded from below by a stolon of Gentiana acaulis. As a hat for the draba, it's a bit over-sized.
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This little tulip came from the Market at the weekend and was quite white, the outer petals suffused with green but by next day when it opened, had taken on an ever-deepening pink. It seems to be double or semi-double. No idea what the name it though.
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And finally, a really lovely crabapple which I grew from seed. I picked up a very large crabapple from the footpath outside someone's garden and decided to grow it, hoping for the apples. It flowered for the first time last year, at about 2 metres high even though it's only 3 years old. Beautiful flowers, lightly scented and the subsequent apples were very small and yellow, quite different from the large russet one it was grown from. No matter, it's turned out to be a very attractive tree and growing fast.
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A couple more. Fritillaria pyrenaica just 2yrs and 2 months from germination and still in its seed pot but grown, disappointingly, from FGAGS seed, as F. p. lutescens.
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And Daphne arbuscula, untouched by the recent bad weather. I'm using this to psyche myself up for the flowering of D. petraea 'Persabee' which will follow in a few days. :)
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Pat, I have a few Gladiolus nanus corms which seem to be the same as yours and bought them just as 'Charm.' They're in bud now so I'll do a pic later.
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A few more things flowering outdoors in the Rock Garden,
Calochortus amabilis
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Leucocoryne hybrids(?)
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Moraea villosa
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Morarea aristata
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DBI"Seta"
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And yet another unnamed DBI in purple shades
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cheers
fermi
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Great images of Spring boys and girls !! ;D :D
A very floriferous D. arbuscula Lesley - I wish mine flowered half as well... :(
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Bummer. I have treated them exactly as you have outlined, right down to the drainage and morning sun. I grew mine from seed a number of years ago and they are now large bulbs, but I have never had any signs of any offsets from them.... ever. Now the C. montanus on the other hand offsets like a weed, but also never flowers for me. ::) Do you grow and flower it as well?
Thansk so much for all the info. Given your outline of how to grow it, I'm stumped on what I am doing wrong.
Paul, I am not exactly sure what you are doing wrong, there are so many aspects to consider when it comes to growing something successful. I think perhaps its more a question of paying attention to detail, and try to duplicate their native habitats/requirements as close as possible, (difficult at times) in the wild.
I often shift containers to suitable positions in the nursery, from sunny to shady, or warmer or cooler, more or less water for some particular/special genus/species, dry off or store at the right time at the right place. all these important tasks/detail should and will make a difference.
Knowing exactly what to do theoretically and putting it into practice takes knowledge, experience and dedication.
Enough preaching for now, don't stop trying Paul, and yes I do grow and flower Cyrtanthus montanus successful as you can see.
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I am not exactly sure what you are doing wrong, there are so many aspects to consider when it comes to growing something successful. I think perhaps its more a question of paying attention to detail, and try to duplicate their native habitats/requirements as close as possible, (difficult at times) in the wild.
I often shift containers to suitable positions in the nursery, from sunny to shady, or warmer or cooler, more or less water for some particular/special genus/species, dry off or store at the right time at the right place. all these important tasks/detail should and will make a difference.
Knowing exactly what to do theoretically and putting it into practice takes knowledge, experience and dedication.
I can agree with your comments, bill. So often the key to success is not found by following a predetermined plan, but by experimentation and, above all, by constant observation of the plants to learn their needs and signals..... 8)
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That's a gorgeous Cyrtanthus Bill. What an interesting genus that is, much more so than the few we used to have, led us to believe.
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Bill - How on earth do you manage to grow so many beauties, all to such perfection? Enjoying your postings immensely.
I only grow Cyrtanthus brachyschyphus, not the showiest but it certainly is easy and gives a good long show.
Can you recommend a source of this Cyrtanthus along with C. macowanii and obliquus? The usual SA seed suppliers never seem to have these, ditto Lachenalia viridiflora.
A question, last spring I planted seed of Blandfordiae punicea and they are not up yet; maybe the lack of a cold period caused this. I wonder how big the seeds were, I dig around and can't find them. Seems to me they were tiny? Can you confirm?
Hi John, for a start a good healthy plant is important, cultivation requirements, spraying for pest and deceases all make the difference when it comes to taking good a good picture (and what I have been preaching to Paul)
A good quality digital camera does help as well, I often take plenty of pictures at different setting and then select the best ones, not to forget the background and time of the day.
I have a 4 GB memory card that can take from 100- 1000 pics depending on the resolution, and when full, just wipe and start again.
Photography of course is another subject with many possibilities.
We originally got our seed from Silverhill Seeds, which I would recommend, but there are many SA seed suppliers that sell these seeds, you have to shop around on the internet.
I might be able to help you with the Lach.viridiflora seed which has set seeds and will be ready to harvest shortly.
Send me a private PM and we'll organise something.
I don't know what happened to your Blanfordiae punicea seed , again so many things can and will go wrong when it comes to raising plants from seed. They may still come up, good luck.
I will show a picture of Cyrtanthus obliguus which I photographed last season. (see if you can find the little spider on top of the plant) Enjoy.
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Not sure about the fly, Bill, but I can certainly see a spider!
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Not sure about the fly, Bill, but I can certainly see a spider!
I qiuckly tried to modify as you can see, but you beat me to it. ;D ;D :)
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Not sure about the fly, Bill, but I can certainly see a spider!
I thought you were enjoying your beauty sleep by now, ;D ;D I am off to do a little work in the nursery.
BTW: the difference is now exactly 12 hours with the UK
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Lesley,
That Cyrt always reminds me of a Nerine when I see it. I'm hoping to flower it one day, but still haven't managed to get it to flowering size. Not like I don't have enough bulbs of it to experiment with.... it offsets very freely. I'll keep experimenting with the pot of falcatus, Bill. I have 3 bulbs in it, never offsetting, so I am not going to be able to do too much experimentation with it unfortunately. I've moved it out into a bit more sun the last week or two, just to see if it was too shaded for it where I had it. I'll give it a slow release bulb food as well soon, and see what it does this coming year. :-\ Thanks for the advice.
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I was thrilled to see this little fritillaria, F. purdyi out this morning. It is from J and J Archibald seed. Not up to the one I used to have though from seed Wayne Roderick gave me many years ago. It was similar except that the pollen was a rich crimson colour and it had the effect of lifting the flowers as the black anthers do on some rhodos, such as R. leucaspis. Alas I lost that one maybe 10 years ago.
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I was thrilled to see this little fritillaria, F. purdyi out this morning. It is from J and J Archibald seed. Not up to the one I used to have though from seed Wayne Roderick gave me many years ago. It was similar except that the pollen was a rich crimson colour and it had the effect of lifting the flowers as the black anthers do on some rhodos, such as R. leucaspis. Alas I lost that one maybe 10 years ago.
Good photography Lesley, what a beautiful Frit, wish I could grow frits like that one. I am green with envy.
Will/try to say something nice about Tauranga and its climate shortly
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Scilla natalensis from South Africa is highly desirable for large gardens. It forms large clumps, and when located amongst rocks where the huge papery bulbs can be seen it is very effective. In late spring or early summer the flower spikes emerge and quickly grow to 1 meter or more. They are covered with hundreds of soft blue stars, which appear continually for several weeks, The flowers are followed by by 40 cm. long grey-green leaves, which often have a purple sheen. The flowers are useful for large floral displays. The bulbs should be planted with their lower third below soil level in autumn or winter. They multiply extremely slowly, in some cases one bulb increasing to only eight over a period of 20 years. Seed is therefore the quickest method of increase, it must be fresh when sown as old seed does not germinate. It should be sown on the surface of a sandy mix, and germination will commence in 2-3 days. Small bulbs will form before winter, at which time they will become dormant, coming into growth again the following spring.
Between four to seven years are required for bulbs of flowering size to develop.
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This Tropaeolum azureum seedling amazingly is flowering 4-5 months after sowing.
Hard to believe, has anyone ever flowered that quickly?
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Very, very nice, Bill.
Lesley,
You've made me realise that I don't think my purdyi has returned this year. I'll have to go searching. I've had it for more than 15 years, VERY slowly multiplying. Got it from that nursery that used to stock unusual stuff many years ago (like the Clematis tangutica I mentioned elsewhere). I hope it is still there but just not flowering. ::)
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A few more things flowering outdoors in the Rock Garden,
Leucocoryne hybrids(?)
Very nice Calochortus amabilis Fermi, that socalled Leucocoryne hybrid wouldn't be Leuc.purpurea would it?
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A few more things flowering outdoors in the Rock Garden,
Leucocoryne hybrids(?)
Very nice Calochortus amabilis Fermi, that socalled Leucocoryne hybrid wouldn't be Leuc.purpurea would it?
Hi Bill,
it may well be L. purpurea - I got it from a friend who got them as "mixed hybrids" but it looks a lot like Sheila Burrow's pic on the PBS site (which also looks like the pic that Lee Poulsen posted as "received as mixed hybrids"!).
cheers
fermi
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Folks,
Moraea vegeta.
Saw this at Jenny Mair's over the weekend.
Apparently can get a bit weedy but I like it.
Andrew.
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Folks,
Lesley mentioned my Babiana ringens last month but this is the first time I've had a chance to get back online since. A first flowering for me and I'm very impressed, this one will be a 'keeper' in my collection to rival B. rubrocyanea which is just coming in to flower now.
Andrew.
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Folks,
The photos aren't anywhere near as nice as Bills but here are a couple of my Velthemia flowering at the moment.
Sadly some of the individual flowers (and the entire flower-heads on other plants) were damaged by a late frost.
Andrew.
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Lesley - better late than never - I do grow Gladiolus nana and I can see the similarity. I prefer the colour of the straight species rather than the kind of harsh pink of the Charm or Charming one.
Fermi are you getting in early with the Calochortus as I noticed mine has about 7+ buds as well as two out so your's must be going to flower more. Great value bulb.
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This Tropaeolum azureum seedling amazingly is flowering 4-5 months after sowing.
Hard to believe, has anyone ever flowered that quickly?
Yes, Bill, once the seeds do germinate they usually flower in their first growing season. Best to keep it growing on as long as possible and try not to let it die back too quickly or the tuber will not have made any great size and may then hit a DEEP dormancy. :o
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Folks,
Moraea vegeta.
Saw this at Jenny Mair's over the weekend.
Apparently can get a bit weedy but I like it.
Andrew.
I know you Folks in the Southern Hemisphere, especially Australia and New Zealand can get a bit down-hearted at some of the plants that we have and you cannot get.... but if I had a garden where there was even a remote chance of any Moraea getting "weedy", I'd be pretty pleased!!
( yes, I realise most of my Rhodos wouldn't be so happy then!! :P)
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Andrew, you have some lovely stuff, thanks for posting them.
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I will show a picture of Cyrtanthus obliguus which I photographed last season. (see if you can find the little spider on top of the plant) Enjoy.
A marvellous Cyrtanthus obliquus photo Bill. Is one apt to get a few of the same colour pattern from any obliquus seed? I see some solid coloured ones on the internet that aren't quite as nice. It must be the resemblance to Rhododendron cinnabarinum that draws me to this beautiful Genus.
johnw
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Folks,
Moraea vegeta.
Saw this at Jenny Mair's over the weekend.
Apparently can get a bit weedy but I like it.
Andrew.
I know you Folks in the Southern Hemisphere, especially Australia and New Zealand can get a bit down-hearted at some of the plants that we have and you cannot get.... but if I had a garden where there was even a remote chance of any Moraea getting "weedy", I'd be pretty pleased!!
( yes, I realise most of my Rhodos wouldn't be so happy then!! :P)
so true! and so many lovely natives! of course we all want what is hard to get...
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Parva Plants had the Babiana listed recently but I see online that it is sold out. They didn't send me a list this time so I missed it.
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In spite of yet more rain the little bearded irises keep on keeping on. These two out today are 'Dark Note' (a standard dwarf and darker and more velvety than the pic suggests)
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and 'Mist o' Pink,' a miniature dwarf which seems very prolific with 8 flowering stems on a new plant.
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I've been throwing a bit more of my soil pile around today and will soon have it spread where I want it, weather permitting but have been wondering how to keep the raised edge off the driveway. Also wondering what to do with so many new little DB Irises. It seems probable that I'll use the latter to edge the former. The edge would be brightly coloured in season and a pleasant band of neat green at other times.
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Folks,
Obtained as Iris 'Hottentot', does that sound/look right?
I don't grow many Irises but may have to consider getting a few more of these small ones...
Andrew.
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Folks,
Moraea aristata. I know it's common but it's reliable and still quite nice. :)
All the M. villosa I've obtained in the past have been this one instead...
Andrew.
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Those DBI's are very beautiful.
Lesley, i like your Mist'o Pink, it has a very nice colour combination.
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While we're discussing Cyrtanthus plants, here is another rare colourful species, one of my favourites, flowering at the moment.
This is Cyrtanthus glaucophyllus, flowers brilliant scarlet, likes full sun, good drainage, and plants enjoy being crowded and should be left undisturbed.
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That's a stunning plant Bill. You can outshine us all with these marginally hardy bulbs.
I don't know 'Hottentot' Andrew so can't judge. I have 'Hot' and 'Hot Buttons' but not 'Hottentot.' No wonder the names get mixed up from time to time.
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I don't know 'Hottentot' Andrew so can't judge.
Lesley - A sibling of 'Hottentottententententoonstelling'. ??? ;)
johnw
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Bill,
A Cyrt species I've not come across before. Very nice!
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I don't know 'Hottentot' Andrew so can't judge.
Lesley - A sibling of 'Hottentottententententoonstelling'. ??? ;)
johnw
Yeah, right. I must be missing something here?
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I don't know 'Hottentot' Andrew so can't judge.
Lesley - A sibling of 'Hottentottententententoonstelling'. ??? ;)
johnw
Yeah, right. I must be missing something here?
;D ;D
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Folks,
Obtained as Iris 'Hottentot', does that sound/look right?
I don't grow many Irises but may have to consider getting a few more of these small ones...
Andrew.
Andrew,
that one's a real cutie!
Here are a few more in our garden,
DBI "No Contest"
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DBI "Apricot Kisses"
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An American "bluebell", Dichelostemma capitatum, has become an overnight resting place for some of our little native bees (you can hear them putting out ZZZZZ ;D)
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Another one in the genus is D. pulchellum,
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An Aussie blue, Dampiera dysantha
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cheers
fermi
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Andrew,
that one's a real cutie!
It certainly is...and a wonderful colour combination!
Fermi, I really like your 'No Contest' too :D
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Fermi,
I love the Jazzamattaz. Used to grow it years ago. The 'Apricot Kisses' is a great colour, much cleaner looking apricot than any other dwarves I recall seeing. So often they're a bit muddy with a bit of tan in them.
The Dichelostemma is brilliant. I only grow ida-maia here, although must check it has come back again. Is capitatum one of those that twines?
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I don't know 'Hottentot' Andrew so can't judge.
Lesley - A sibling of 'Hottentottententententoonstelling'. ??? ;)
johnw
Yeah, right. I must be missing something here?
;D ;D
Lesley - Wim can translate, something like a group / encampment of Hottentot tents. Three Duvals, a Geuze and 2 final glasses of Trappist and the Belgians ask you to pronounce it if you're still standing; still can do it after 25 years but don't remember another thing about that night.
johnw
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I don't know 'Hottentot' Andrew so can't judge.
Lesley - A sibling of 'Hottentottententententoonstelling'. ??? ;)
johnw
Yeah, right. I must be missing something here?
;D ;D
Lesley - Wim can translate, something like a group / encampment of Hottentot tents. Three Duvals, a Geuze and 2 final glasses of Trappist and the Belgians ask you to pronounce it if you're still standing; still can do it after 25 years but don't remember another thing about that night.
johnw
Lesley,
The word means "an exhibit of Hottentot tents", you can divide it in three words: Hottentotten-tenten-tentoonstelling. We have to learn it in school as being the "official" longest Dutch word.
After three Duvels, a Geuze and two glasses of Trappist I doubt that I would be able to pronounce it... ;D ;D that must have been a very enjoyable evening, John ;) ;)
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Don't forget the Pacific Coast Pacifica hybrids, I had to rush outside to quickly take a few more pics, before the rain came down again.
Sorry I have no variety names for them, just a mix lot that I exchanged with another local iris grower.
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The first break in the drizzle, I too shot out into the garden and took a few shots.
1. Fritillaria meleagris
2. Magnolia 'Genie'.
3. Sparaxis tricolor?
4. Arisaema thunbergia var. urashima.
5. Euphorbia 'dixter'.
6. A monster leaved scoliopus bigelowii close to harvest.
7. The borders coming to life!
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Why don't you jokers (Wim/John) go the whole hog and make it:
"hottentottententententoonstellingsmakersopleidingsprogramma"
which means:the curriculum of an education teaching the makers of exhibitions about the tents of the Hottentots.
Iamsopleasedthatpracicallyallwordsintheenglishlanguage areofamanageablelengthasIhaveheardaboutallthoseextremelylongwordsingermanandnowiseethedutchlangagehassimilarlymonstrouslylongwordsandiunderstandthatsomeofthemareactuallyconcoctedwordsdescribingpeoplesprofessionswhichmoreorlesscontainalltheactivitesinvolvedinthejobstheydowhichissoconfusingtopeoplefromothernations.
Isupposemothersuperiorwillthrowkickmeoftheforumnowforgoingofftopicbutwillbesafefornowwhilesheisindreamlandbuildingchocolatecastles ;D ;D ;D
BTW:I love that real trappisten beer when I was home last year and got a little inebriated in the process 8) 8) 8)
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OK, a few more of the Pacific Coast Pacifica hybrid irises.
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The first break in the drizzle, I too shot out into the garden and took a few shots.
4. Arisaema thunbergia var. urashima.
Very nice collection of pictures, and I like that Ariseama thunbergia var.urashima Doug.
Would love to try one if you got one to spare, buy or in exchange for some Tecophilaea or Tropaeolum sp. or other whatever?
Thanks.
BTW: watched the Crusaders made mince meat of Manawatu (the bucket brigade) last night, go the Crusaders !!!.
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Wim and John, I'm not surprised I didn't get the joke, being totallyteetotallyteetotallyteetletotal as I am! Have to admit though Bill, that yours has totally surpassed mine. ;D Your irises are very nice too.
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Bill,
Lovely PCN Irises. Some great colours and forms. Do you hybridise them and grow the seed on? I'd imagine you would get some fantastic colour combinations out of those if you did. I have a few PCNs, but not as many as you by the look of it. 8)
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Folks,
An example of Arisaema thunbergia var. urashima seen at Jenny Mairs place last weekend.
I had a small plant of this but it failed to come back last year. :(
Andrew.
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Why don't you jokers (Wim/John) go the whole hog and make it:
"hottentottententententoonstellingsmakersopleidingsprogramma"
Bill, I don't think you can find that word in "De dikke Vandaele" ;) ;)
Are those Irisses as small as the DBI's? They look wonderfull.
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Here is another South American little treasure and again very rare and not well known.
I have only one container of this little beauty, does anyone else grow this? Paul?
Flowers only last for one or two days after opening, but will be replaced with more flowers for several weeks.
Cypella hauthelii var.opalina
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Bill,
I would be if I could find it!! What sort of Cypella is this one? What sort of watering requirements and temps etc? Given how wide ranging they can be (My C. aquatilis is permanently submerged in a bog garden that is always underwater, while others need a fair amount of drying when dormant), the question needs to be asked! ;D I've always loved the pics I've seen of this species. 8)
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Bill, I don't think you can find that word in "De dikke Vandaele" ;) ;)
Are those Irisses as small as the DBI's? They look wonderfull.
Yes they are and just as colourful Wim, the Pacific Coast Native Iris are beardless irises, and are usually labeled as Pacific Coast Irises (PCI's), Pacificas, or Pacifica Hybrids. They are generally small, compact plants with slender, wiry rhizomes, and narrow grass-like leaves. Most PCIs are evergreen, growing 6 to 24 inches high.
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Bill,
I would be if I could find it!! What sort of Cypella is this one? What sort of watering requirements and temps etc? Given how wide ranging they can be (My C. aquatilis is permanently submerged in a bog garden that is always underwater, while others need a fair amount of drying when dormant), the question needs to be asked! ;D I've always loved the pics I've seen of this species. 8)
I am not sure of its origin Paul, I inherited from my mentor/grower and good friend Jim Forrest years ago and again don't know if the botanists have not reclassified into another genus like so many South American species.
I treat it as most iridaceae genera/species, after flowering dry it off and store it in a cool and dry place, etc.
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A couple of tall bearded irises just coming into flower, again don't know the variety name, another present from a friend.
If anyone could identify, I would be grateful. Thanks.
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Lovely PCN Irises. Some great colours and forms. Do you hybridise them and grow the seed on? I'd imagine you would get some fantastic colour combinations out of those if you did. I have a few PCNs, but not as many as you by the look of it. 8)
No I have not done any hybridising yet, to busy with the miniature daffies, but will collect the seed, and see what open pollination by the bees will bring. Nature eventually might surprise me with some hybrid PCI's.
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Bill,
I doubt that the offspring would look much like the parent, even with self pollination. I think they're so hybridised within colours (i.e not line bred) that there will be some like the parent but a lot that aren't. If you end up with spare seed I'd be interested, particularly of that last browny one that you posted. I just love em, and they most definitely aren't grown enough.
I refer to them as PCN because I was introduced to them as Pacific Coast Natives, but I have seen the PCI used heavily as well. As long as we know what we're all talking about it doesn't really matter..... well within reason anyway. ;D
Is your Cypella a single clone, or does it set seed? Some species seem to be self-fertile while others aren't, which is why I ask. Some of them you definitely need multiple clones before you'll get anywhere with seed.
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What a treat as our days get colder, darker and wetter, to see these wondeful flowers leaping into flower in the Southern Hemisphere.
No wonder you are all so excitied to be out with your cameras!
I have never seen that Magnolia 'Genie' before: SO DARK! Glorious 8)
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The last of the miniature daffies variety to flower for this season. Narc.Sundisk.
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Maggi,
I must admit, I rather noted Magnolia 'Genie' as well. Is it another of the NZ breeding like 'Star Wars', 'Vulcan' and 'Black Tulip' (all 3 of which I grow here)?
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Is your Cypella a single clone, or does it set seed? Some species seem to be self-fertile while others aren't, which is why I ask. Some of them you definitely need multiple clones before you'll get anywhere with seed.
Last year this Cypella species for the first time set seed and have seedlings coming along, so must be self-fertile.
This time we'll have to wait, hopefully will oblige again.
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The last posting for the night, four more DBI's, just managed to snap them before the rain came down again.
11.40 pm, I am off to hit the sack. Good night and good morning.
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The last of the miniature daffies variety to flower for this season. Narc.Sundisk.
What a glorious way to end the season, Bill, these N. sundisk are very striking as it the vase you have them in :)
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All very nice, Bill. Love the DBI.
Glad to hear that the Cypella is fertile. Makes it much easier for you to multiply your stock. ;D Once thing I like (but only found out about last year) about Cypella aquatilis is that it produces bulbils on the flowering stems. I kept meaning to harvest them and grow them on but forgot about them with everything else going on at the time. There's still 3 or 4 of them that are currently growing where the flower stems fell over into the bog next to the main clump. They have little shoots up about an inch tall now. This species is evergreen (for those who don't know) which I am assuming helps with it tolerating the permanent wet. Such a cool genus.
OK, I'll stop my enthusiastic Cypella muttering now. G'night (or G'morning) all. 8)
P.S. The only daff still to flower here is Narcissus biflorus, which I discovered was in bud today. I only rebought it this year after having had it years ago. Will be interesting to see it again. I don't recall it being quite this late though. ::)
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I'm a big fan of Cypella too although I only grow C. aqualtilis at the moment. I now C. coelestis is also in the country and am actively looking to acquire that and any others.
Andrew.
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Maggi,
I must admit, I rather noted Magnolia 'Genie' as well. Is it another of the NZ breeding like 'Star Wars', 'Vulcan' and 'Black Tulip' (all 3 of which I grow here)?
Beautiful tree flowers twice a season as well! Hybrid of M. soulangeana x M.lilliflora ' Nigra'.
Breed by Vance Hooper in NZ.
Will get a shot of the open flower for you.
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That would be wonderful, Doug.
Is Vance the person who bred Vulcan etc as well? Is this one going to be going overseas as well?
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That would be wonderful, Doug.
Is Vance the person who bred Vulcan etc as well? Is this one going to be going overseas as well?
No, that was Mark or Felix Jury. Genie has been out for a few years so I would think it would have left our shores by now.
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Doug,
Thanks. I couldn't remember who bred the others. So how does 'Genie' compare colour-wise to those others? And size-wise. Always hard to tell from a picture. ;D
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Folks,
Vance Hooper grows some nice plants. I've been to his house (just out of New Plymouth) and he's where I got my Haemanthus coccinea x albiflos plants from.
He has a back yard full of some very nice Magnolia hybrids/selections...
Andrew.
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Some lovely things above and over the last couple of days. We could almost pretend it was spring again instead of the winter we're having yet again. Driving me mad!
Can't help with those two plicata TBs Bill. There are so many. The darker is a bit like 'Stepping Out' but I think it may have more veining around the edges of the falls. They're both good though.
Here are a few more of my little ones flowering for the first time. I'm looking forward to seeing them next year when they're planted out and making decent clumps.
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Michiana
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Mama's Pet
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Ruby Contrast
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Mary B
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Blue Moss
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Red Pixie
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Lesley,
Very nice. Ruby Contrast is great with those beards, and Mary B looks like it's rather nice too. 8)
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Doug,
Thanks. I couldn't remember who bred the others. So how does 'Genie' compare colour-wise to those others? And size-wise. Always hard to tell from a picture. ;D
1. If you love 'black tulip' you will die for 'Genie'.
2. Aciphylla pinnatifida's architectial bloom.
3. Clianthus puniceus - Kaka beak.
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Doug,
I guess I had better try to find out whether 'Genie' is here in Aus then. ::)
Interesting to see the Clianthus puniceus..... used here as the rootstock for grafting out Sturt Desert Pea onto, which I find sort of amusing given that apparently Clianthus puniceus is very much endangered in the wild. Grows easily from seed of course, but apparently not very much in it's natural environment.
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I have a very small, charming little Iris species (1.5 inch. 35 mm.across) flowering at the moment, a real cuty, unfortunetely lost the name. This Iris came from Betty Tunnah, perhaps you reconise it Lesley?
Thanks, otherwise will post it on the Iris forum they might ID it for me.
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Bill,
If it is as small as it looks, then I'd be hazarding Iris cristata, but I am not sure it is the usual "alba" but perhaps a named form (or seed from a named form)?
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great stuff!
bill--that tiny iris is wonderful!
doug-- i guess the second two are natives? love to see these things we dont see much of up here..
Aciphylla pinnatifida- very cool plant and
Clianthus puniceus looks lovely..
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Bill I'm inclined to think I. verna alba. It's not cristata - no crest. :) I. verna alba is around down here very sparsely. I lost my original but was able to get a tiny one last week. Treasure it as it's very rare and very precious.
I. verna below for comparison.
Now I look at it again, it DOES seem to have a crest and so perhaps I. lacustris alba, rather than cristata. It is the smaller of the two.
Here's the verna anyway.
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Lesley,
Aren't there 3 crests on the fall? One larger one in the centre with a parallel one on each side? The fact there there were extra crests is why I thought it wasn't the "usual" cristata, but I had thought the 3 ridges were crests. I guess I had better go and find my old pics of cristata and see what the crests on them look like..... I was just running from memory.
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I modified mine Paul, before yours came up. Yes, there are crests. Usually cristata has a flatter flower so I'll still go with lacustris, on the size (height) if nothing else. I've not heard of any named forms of either.
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Bill, put it on the Iris pages anyway as many don't look at the SH pages. It will be of interst there.
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Lesley,
There is an Echo series of cristatas, at the very least "Echo White Angel", but I think there are others which is why I say series. Supposed to be a bigger and better form of cristata. I used to have cristata alba and lost it a couple of years ago. I was mortified as I loved it. Quite a bit larger than the normal blue species, and even better flowerer. I just love em. 8)
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I've never come across these "Echo" plants Paul. Not in NZ so far as I know.
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A couple of other things at present. Gentiana acaulis is turning out to be a bit of a thug in its raised bed. I'll plant it out soon. Nice thug though. :)
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with Dianthus 'Whitehill'
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and with Fritillaria carica.
A pleasant form of Iris innominata, perhaps closer to the species than Bill's.
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Lathyrus laxiflorus which is such a reliable and generous performer, never receiving a drop of water except what falls as rain. It has totally filled its trough and overlaps the troughs on each side. There will be plenty seed of this later on.
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A couple of other things at present. Gentiana acaulis is turning out to be a bit of a thug in its raised bed. I'll plant it out soon. Nice thug though. :)
What a charming little combo! Stunning thug and a super colour.
johnw
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Lesley,
I don't think the Echo iris are here in Aus either. I got seed from the white angel one and they grew fine until the whole lot got wiped out by snails one year. Total and complete loss of the seedlings. Some were in bud at the time. Scarey how quickly the snails obliterated them. :o
Gentiana acaulis as a thug!! :o :o :o :o :o :o I've not yet managed to get it to flower a second time (i.e bought in flower for the first flowering). I can keep them alive a couple of years, but never flowered again. ::) Could live with that sort of thug I think. ;)
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Lesley, the G.acaulis looks great with the combinations you have - both Dianthus 'Whitehall' and Fritillaria carica are so pretty :)
Here in the Alps there aren't many thugs as they seem to be well policed by the climate, thank goodness :D
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A couple of other things at present. Gentiana acaulis is turning out to be a bit of a thug in its raised bed. I'll plant it out soon. Nice thug though. :)
Lesley,
There can never be too much G. acaulis anywhere... ;D :D ;)
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Paul, I'll send you some seed in the summer when it ripens. I harvest a 1/4 cupful each year 8)
This gentian plant is in a raised bed with many other small plants including a couple of mini bearded irises, drabas, saponarias, callianthemum, frits, crocuses, small narcissus and others. The bed is only about 20cms deep and has a largely humus and grit mixture in it. The whole thing is made of ground-treated timber (pine), in planks of 20cms x about 4cms, so quite solid. The gentian has not only travelled along and through the bed but down to the bottom and shoots emerge underneath sometimes, from between the base planks. (The bed is raised on legs to about 80cms.) These shoots usually get eaten off by bunnies.
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:o :o :o
My concern is you'll just be sending it to it's death. I've never even tried Gentiana from seed.
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Easy peasy. Sow it, forget it. Watch them bloom. ;D ;D ;D
Don't worry about it. There's so much seed usually that even if the lot die, there will still be enough to populate half the earth.
Here are a few more dwarf bearded irises out today.
Tingle
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Little Pearl. This is really pretty with its palest blue beards.
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Bee Wings. Already had a dozen flowers.
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Bright Spot. There are several yellows pretty much of a muchness.
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Shadow Box. In the flesh a little darker than here.
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Watercolour. Judging from the foliage this will need spraying immediately. But a lovely flower though.[attachthumb=6]
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These are a small batch of seedlings from 'Hokonui White,' which was a white flowered seedling from the white 'Linda Pope. I had hoped that some would be white but not one is. Heaven knows what pollinated them. Insects, yes, or the wind, but pollen from which auriculas?
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None is worth anything except planting out as nice plants but not for propagation or naming. I do like this compact blue however. It is a little bluer than in the picture with a large flower and a nice ruffled form. All are very fragrant.
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Lesley,
I love Tingle and Watercolour. Both lovely forms and colours. Where did they originate? I might try to track them down here in Aus.
As to the Primulas..... they might be nothing special to you, but I'd be pleased as punch with any of them. Very, very nice to my (obviously uneducated) eye. :o
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Lovely DBI's Lesley !
Tingle is my favourite from this batch !
Don't be too hard on the Primula's Lesley, they look very enjoyable even without a proper name !! 8)
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Here are a few Juno irises floweing at the moment that I posted on the Juno Irises page.
I am not sure if everybody watches forum pages on every subject.
Iris cycloglossa and Iris magnifica.
Bill
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Another small Iris flowering in the nursery is the delightfull Iris kamaoenensis.
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Another small Iris flowering in the nursery is the delightfull Iris kamaoenensis.
Beautiful Iris Bill !! :o :D
Don't think I've heard of it before...
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Your magnifica is very late Bill. Mine finished a month ago. The kamaonensis is super. I've just bought a plant from them down the road. I have true hookeriana if you're interested in a swap some time?
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The iris is one of a small group called Pseudoregelia Luc. They are very interesting plants, not generally difficult to grow but quite hard to come by. According to Mathew "Mostly they are dwarf mountain plants of eastern Asia but are especially centred on Tibet, Mongolia, Nepal and eastern Siberia."
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A few more pics this morning, but rain has set in now and the forecast is yet again horrid.
Munchkin
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Forest Glade, which Fermi has already shown. Mine is in a bit of shade and so later.
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Primula daonensis was grown from Pilous seed.
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And I'm not sure about this little body, just 5cms high. It was seed as P. yargongensis but that should be taller and different.
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The Piece de resistance this morning, Daphne petraea 'Persabee.'
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Lesley,
I love the Primulas and that gorgeous Daphne. :o
Bill,
The Iris kamaoenensis is amazing. What a colour. 8)
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Primula daonensis was grown from Pilous seed.
(Attachment Link)
Hmm, my seed grown ones are dogs in comparison.
johnw
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The kamaonensis is super. I've just bought a plant from them down the road. I have true hookeriana if you're interested in a swap some time?
Lesley,I don't know much about this Iris hookeriana, what is so special with this true I.hookeriana?
Do you have a picture to show us, you got me real curious now.
Yes, I definitely interested in a swap later.
BTW: do you grow any Tecophilaea's? just being nosy.
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Androcymbium is a genus of about 10 species that occur naturally mainly around the Meditterranean and in northern and South Africa. The plants are small, and sets of two or more bracts are produced, which can be of various colours, usually whites or in shades of rose-pink. In the middle of the bracts are the small flowers, which give rise to the common name of little men in a boat.
A.ciliolatum :from South Africa produces two or three 12 cm long leaves. Clusters of white flowers appear among greenish white bracts in Spring. The leaves have finely fringed margins and lie on or close to the surface of the soil.
A.pulchrum resembles A. ciliolatum and grows naturally in the same part of SA. It produces reddish purple bracts and small pink flowers
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I quickly picked a few more Irises, before the rain once again came down in buckets.
I usually take them into the glass house and take pictures at my own leisure.
This time I.setosa Kirigamine and I.siberica Flight of Butterflies.
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A couple of tall bearded colourfull iris varieties to finish the irises for today.
TBI Spreckles
TBI Distraction
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I.setosa Kirigamine and I.siberica Flight of Butterflies.
Bill,
Is the colour of I. setosa Kirigamine really as blue as the picture shows ??? If so... WOW.... :o Guess I'd have to put sunglasses on to look at it... 8) What an amazing colour !!!
Lesley,
Thanks for the information on pseudoregelia !! ;)
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The Babiana species are another attractive colourful genus flowering this time of the season.
In this collection are the various B.villosa seedlings that hybridise freely and pop up spontaneously in the pots/containers.
The last one just another Iris japonica.
What do you think of the Babiana's Lesley, I believe you're quite keen on the baboon flowers.
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Bill,
Is the colour of I. setosa Kirigamine really as blue as the picture shows ??? If so... WOW.... :o Guess I'd have to put sunglasses on to look at it... 8) What an amazing colour !!!
Yes Luc, the flower falls are 5-7 cm long, with a spreading network of dark-violet blue or red-violet colours, according to the Iris Bible by Fritz Kohlein.Very spectacular.
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I.setosa Kirigamine and I.siberica Flight of Butterflies.
The first looks like and indigo blue to me, Bill, it is quite spectacular and both are exceptional I think
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I.setosa Kirigamine and I.siberica Flight of Butterflies.
The first looks like and indigo blue to me, Bill, it is quite spectacular and both are exceptional I think
Yes Robin, the colours can vary between the I.setosa named varieties from violet to the various blues and anything in between, but the colours are always intense, dazzling and eye-catching.
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Bill,
The Androcymbiums are amazing!! :o :o I love the colours in the Babianas. Some unusual combinations in there that I haven't seen before.
Thanks for all the wonderful pictures.
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Androcymbium is a genus of about 10 species that occur naturally mainly around the Meditterranean and in northern and South Africa. The plants are small,
i like these, bill--small plants and those with interesting leaves are at the top of my list for tender bulbs; i've seen them on lists, but not many pictures..
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I certainly do like the Babiana flowers Bill. I was able to get B. ringens yesterday, from TradeMe, Andrew B having sent me a note. Looking forward to that one.
Luc, with the best will in the world, I'd have to say that 'Kirigamene' is not REALLY as intense as that but it is a very good deep violet-blue with wide, full-bodied petals. It is, in fact, Iris setosa var hondoensis, found at Kirigamene in Japan in 1930 and marketed in the USA as 'Kirigamene.'
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Bill, here is a pic of I. hookeriana. Of course many people confuse it with I. setosa hookeri (I. hookeri) but it is nothing like. I've had seed a couple of times as hookeriana which turned out to be hookeri.
The flowers are at ground level and are rather leopard spotted.
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The blunt or round-tipped leaf ends are typical of this group.
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Too early yet for TBs here. Still in the thick of new dwarfs.. Three today are:
Grape Cordial
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Eyelash
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Orange Glint (I feel sure this is wrongly named.)
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I have another orange which has come out very messy with 5 falls and a squashed up centre so won't post it now, but wait for the next stem which I hope is better. It's called 'Desert Orange' and is REALLY orange. :P
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For a change of scenery, here are a couple of Camelia pictures flowering in our garden, to brighten up your NH people, where the days are getting shorter, darker, gardens becoming dormant, and bulbophiles dreaming of the next spring display to come.
When it comes to spectacular flowers, attractive evergreen foliage and shrubs that are hardy and will flower almost in every position as well, camelia's are hard to beat.
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Those two are really brilliant Bill and photographed at the peak of perfection before there's a brown flower. Or have you been up a ladder all morning, removing the marked ones? :D For that reason I generally prefer the "self-cleaning" camellias like 'Cornish Snow' and transnokoensis whose flowers just drop off when they're ready and don't go brown first.
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Luc, with the best will in the world, I'd have to say that 'Kirigamene' is not REALLY as intense as that but it is a very good deep violet-blue with wide, full-bodied petals. It is, in fact, Iris setosa var hondoensis, found at Kirigamene in Japan in 1930 and marketed in the USA as 'Kirigamene.'
Lesley,it may be my photography, my bias or the climate up here in the north island, but I still think Iris setosa var.hondoensis is really a stunning, breathtaking flower, the purest, strongest deep violet-blue colour I have come accross, this species is still one of my favourites. At least we agree to disagree ;D
Thanks anyway for the correction, the explanation and the background to this beautiful flower, when you buy plants, names are not always correct and sometimes confusing or misspelled.
No, I have not been up the ladder as yet to remove the spent flowers, especially when it is raining cats and dogs up here, but agree with you that they can be messy when they start dropping the flowers, it will make good compost and keep me out of mischief when cleaning up. ;D ;D.
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to brighten up your NH people, where the days are getting shorter, darker, gardens becoming dormant, and bulbophiles dreaming of the next spring display to come.
you really know how to rub it in ;)
the camellias are lovely; indoor plants only here, and not very suitable for that...lol
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to brighten up your NH people, where the days are getting shorter, darker, gardens becoming dormant, and bulbophiles dreaming of the next spring display to come.
you really know how to rub it in ;)
the camellias are lovely; indoor plants only here, and not very suitable for that...lol
Cohan, you will return the favour one day next spring ;D ;D
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somehow i feel your winter will just not be that long and oppressive ;)
i know lesley had some nasty days, but it seemed there were already flowers againwhen i thought the winter had just started... and i gather you are in a milder area?
my contribution will more likely be to extend spring flowering into what everyone else thinks is mid-summer...lol
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Bill,
stop teasing the Northerners >:(, they can't help it! ;D
My favourite evening primrose, Oenothera acaulis, is just coming into bloom again.
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cheers
fermi
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Yesterday I had a look at some of the other juno irises, like the delicate I.Sindpers and beautiful I.orchioides, both of them are not going to flower this year :( :(
Not to disappoint you, I will show you the pictures taken last season
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Bill,
Wow, I love the orchioides. :o
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Just to fill in a dreary, miserable wet day, I will show a few pictures of the colourful winter flowering Oxalis species (finished flowering now)
This is a very large genus which unfortunately gained a bad reputation because of the invasive tendencies of some species, especially here up north in the North Island. Many are delightful plants which do not become weeds. Some of those which become troublesome can be safely contained if grown in pots or containers. Many species make a superb display when grown in in shallow containers in the middle of the winter, when not much is flowering in the garden.
Here are just a few species we grow, but just recently got rid of 90% of the whole Oxalis collection, cutting down on the work load.
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Just a few more closeups of the Oxalis species.
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OK, found a few more Oxalis closeups, you must be getting sick of them by now. ;D ;D ;D
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How do you Aussie cobbers get on with the Oxalis species in Australia, do you grow them?
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I just discovered I got 3 stars now and a full member, wow, what does that mean?
That nobody will hassle me anymore and always agree with me? ;D ;D ;D
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Bill,
It just means you posted a certain number of posts.... sorry to burst your bubble like that. :o
As to Oxalis.... I grow a bunch of them, but not having a nursery or your sort of space to grow masses of them like that, I never get anything like your wonderful colour palette. :'( The big advantage you have with so many of your things is that you obviously have the space so that you can grow a lot of everything. it certainly makes for breathtaking pictures!! I look at these and feel embarrassed at my poor little pots of Oxalis...... they'll hide their heads in shame. ;D
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That nobody will hassle me anymore and always agree with me? ;D ;D ;D
Sorry Bill, not a chance. According to the boffins including Tony Hall at Kew (MR Juno to us, thanks), what you are calling orchioides is, in fact, an all gold form of bucharica.
A great collection of Oxalis in bloom. What do you do with O. palmifrons for flowers. Never had a single one on mine though it grows like crazy. :'(
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"I just discovered I got 3 stars now and a full member, wow, what does that mean?"
It just means you've got far too much time on your hands and you should be growing more Oxalis and things... ;D
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Bill,
Love your Oxalis, stunning plants!
Rogan is right, the number of stars you have is directly proportional to the amount of gardening time
you have lost!!
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Sorry Bill, not a chance. According to the boffins including Tony Hall at Kew (MR Juno to us, thanks), what you are calling orchioides is, in fact, an all gold form of bucharica.
A great collection of Oxalis in bloom. What do you do with O. palmifrons for flowers. Never had a single one on mine though it grows like crazy. :'(
Lesley,that's what I like, straight out confrontation, no prisoners taken ;D ;D
Aanyway, I acquired this I.orchioides juno seed from a reputable grower/collector and always thought/presumed it to be the true species, and was not aware that the boffings had change the name again into the all yellow juno bucharica.
I put/placed the picture also on the Juno irises page, for conformation or denial by the experts.
I don't do anything with the O.palmifrons, just forget about them, they seem to thrive on neglect.
I usually plant them in a very sandy mix, chuck them in a sunny spot in the nursery and just ignore them.
I leave them in their containers for years, till they get almost rootbound,that's when they start flowering.
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RE : Iris orchioides etc: here are a few pix from around the Forum to assist.....
I will make a search of the old Forum when time permits, as I think we had this discussion back in the day, too!
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OK, found a few more Oxalis closeups, you must be getting sick of them by now. ;D ;D ;D
Bill,
very nice to get sick from the Oxalis ;D than from the cold frosty wheather here.
Fantastic pictures you post the last weeks. Thanks a lot to show us your diamonds.
Uli
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RE : Iris orchioides etc: here are a few pix from around the Forum to assist.....
I will make a search of the old Forum when time permits, as I think we had this discussion back in the day, too!
Thanks Maggi, it looks like I have to settle for Iris bucharica.
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Could't find the page I thought I remembered from the old Forum, so I think it must just have been in the current version, where comments were made about the plants I showed the pictures of earlier. :-X
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Someone told me, could have been Tony when he was here or could have been John L in Pennsylvania maybe, that Bill's is the form of bucharica sometimes called 'Danchaube' or something like that. Can't fine the reference I want either Maggi.
I had an endoscopy this morning and it has put me off bananas for months to come. Don't think it's made my memory worse though. ;D
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I would have thought my O. palmifrons was sufficiently rootbound to flower Bill, if that's what does the trick. They've been in the same large pot for years and make a wonderful mat of foliage. But they do die off quickly (aready, now) so maybe I need to keep them in active growth longer for their nutrition's sake. Too late this year but I'll try that next year. Val Robertson in Timaru reckoned hers flowered after she put a cowpat in the bottom of the pot. ???
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Just two pics this morning, Iris verna first, a new plant. I keep getting another one because it is so hard to find and also because I love it so much that I want to try it in a couple of different places as well as have one in a pot for a show maybe, though it will be too late for NZAGS spring show.
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and DB Iris Forte, a lovely smooth and tailored red. As you see we are having more rain, or rather, a thick drizzle today.
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Lesley,
That verna is beautiful. 'Forte' is another I used to grow. It had the most wonderful velvety texture from memory and a great colour. 8)
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RE : Iris orchioides etc: here are a few pix from around the Forum to assist.....
I will make a search of the old Forum when time permits, as I think we had this discussion back in the day, too!
Thanks Maggi, it looks like I have to settle for Iris bucharica.
But a DIFFERENT bucharica Bill, and what's in a name anyway? The plant is still a beauty.
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Hippeastrum papilio has gorgeous orchid-like cream flowers with maroon and green markings.
These flowers are 10-15 cm in diameter and appear mainly in late spring to early summer.
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Two more Gladioli species have just finished flowering under cover to stop the rain from spoiling the flowers.
Gladiolus alata is a charming little species, producing slightly fragrant hooded flowers, mainly in shades of orange.
Gladiolus cardinalis has brilliant scarlet flowers with white markings.
Put your sunglasses on again Luc ;D ;D
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8) 8) ;D
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Here is another Juno Iris species just opened up a few days ago.
According to Franz Köhlein's "Iris" book description, this Juno vicaria, (syn.Iris orchioides var.coerulea) comes from central Asia on stoney slopes in Turkestan.
Very closely related to Juno magnifica. The stalk is very well-developed and the blossoms are blue-violet, with dark yellow spots on the falls. Little known and probably not cultivated, according to this expert.
Just one expert's opinium I suppose, can anyone confirm/verify or tell us more about this species?
PS: what do the Iris/Juno growers/members think of Franz Köhlein's "Iris" book? Has anyone got this book?
And don't you start (or even think about it) messing around or changing the botanical name either Lesley ;D ;D ;D
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I am not sure about this Iris laevigata, wheather this is the species, a form or a named cultivar. (another exchange from a Iris friend)
It needs moist, fertile soil to thrive and can tolerate standing water, if the level does not exceed a few centimeters.
Because its range is so widespread, the species can't possibly be uniform and amongst plants growing in the wild are specimens with the bluest blossoms colour of any iris, apart from the blinding violet-blue colours of I.setosa (keep those sunglasses on Luc) ;D ;D
To flower abundantly, I.laevigata requires an open sunny lacation.
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Bill,
I grow my laevigatas in permanent ponds, always submerged, and they seem to thrive. I find that the ensatas need it a bit drier (i.e roots below and crown above water), but the laevigatas prefer to be permanently wet and underwater (well for me they're loving it, so I must admit I have never tried them in a garden situation).
There are quite a few different named varieties both in the single and "double" types (in these cases, for those who don't know, the double is 6 falls and the single is 3 broader falls and 3 standards). I have a lovely deep blue/purple called 'Royal Cartwheel', and a single pinky one called 'Rose Queen' as well as a white called something like snowdrift, and a lovely variegated with blue flowers called 'Elegantissima'. All still quite a way off flowering here as yet, although the 'Elegantissima' has the lovely new foliage looking quite spectacular.
I have a similar variety to yours which I think from memory is atropurpurea, but I will try to check through my records and see what I can come up with. I seem to recall posting it here before, and the horror that the splotchy petals elicited in some. ;D
Great to see yours already in flower. 8)
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Bill, I grow my laevigatas in permanent ponds, always submerged, and they seem to thrive. I find that the ensatas need it a bit drier (i.e roots below and crown above water), but the laevigatas prefer to be permanently wet and underwater (well for me they're loving it, so I must admit I have never tried them in a garden situation).
There are quite a few different named varieties both in the single and "double" types (in these cases, for those who don't know, the double is 6 falls and the single is 3 broader falls and 3 standards). I have a lovely deep blue/purple called 'Royal Cartwheel', and a single pinky one called 'Rose Queen' as well as a white called something like snowdrift, and a lovely variegated with blue flowers called 'Elegantissima'. All still quite a way off flowering here as yet, although the 'Elegantissima' has the lovely new foliage looking quite spectacular.
I have a similar variety to yours which I think from memory is atropurpurea, but I will try to check through my records and see what I can come up with. I seem to recall posting it here before, and the horror that the splotchy petals elicited in some. ;D
Great to see yours already in flower. 8)
Thanks Paul, for the Iris info, Irises are not my strongest point, I am still learning, as Lesley keeps telling me. ;D ;D
Do they set seeds?
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Bill,
Judging by the setup you have, the rest of us still have a lot more to learn than you do. ;) Irises are a love of mine, although I don't grow the level of species that some here such as Lesley do. She's the one to be asking about irises and how they behave in NZ!! 8)
I'f you're after laevigata seed i can see about hand pollination. I don't "recall" them setting seed before, but I do tend ot remove the spent flowerheads so that could be easrly enough that I never know. I know that the other water irises set seed (pseudacorus, 'Holden Clough' etc) but can't recall the laevigatus doing so. I haven't tried hand pollinating though.
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A wet start to spring has the garden bounding into life...
Scilla peruviana
Trillium erectum
Arum apulum
paeonia obovata var alba
Paris quadrifolia
Celmisia hybrid C. semicordata X C.laricifolia
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A wet start to spring has the garden bounding into life...
Celmisia hybrid C. semicordata X C.laricifolia[/i]
wow! is that really as silver as it looks?
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Doug, great photos of your plants enjoying the Spring wet - especially like the Paris photo showing the seed/berry - how do you describe it? I think I saw them in the wild here in the Alps but would like to know more about them.
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Great set of pix Doug !!
Nice to get the Spring feeling... :D ... in Autumn... :(
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A wet start to spring has the garden bounding into life...
Celmisia hybrid C. semicordata X C.laricifolia[/i]
wow! is that really as silver as it looks?
It is quite silvery, though are more green when fresh. Heres a better shot of foliage.
photo 2, a nice color combination.
First flower on Arisaema consanguineum (wild collected Guy Gusman)
I love podophyllum!!! Spotty Dotty.
Arisarum vulgare.
A wider shot of my Paris quadrifolia.
Another shot of my Paeonia obovata var alba - divine!!!
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Doug, great photos of your plants enjoying the Spring wet - especially like the Paris photo showing the seed/berry - how do you describe it? I think I saw them in the wild here in the Alps but would like to know more about them.
Hi Robin, I'm new to the Genus, but I'm loving them!!! I believe this species is widespread throughout Europe, Britain, Russia and Asia. Easy to grow, and forms large clumps. Get seed every year. I still haven't got round to getting this one in the ground yet.
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A wet start to spring has the garden bounding into life...
Celmisia hybrid C. semicordata X C.laricifolia[/i]
wow! is that really as silver as it looks?
It is quite silvery, though are more green when fresh. Heres a better shot of foliage.
photo 2, a nice color combination.
thanks--nice plant; we have some great silvery antennarias, but then mostly flowers are not that exciting....of course the composites are always more silver on the other side ;)
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Bill, I'm not arguing with your Iris vicaria. If true, it's a very nice form. I have it from several different sources and they are all paler blue, almost white in some.
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Here are a few pictures from today, once the rain had cleared away. The first is for Paul who loves black flowers. So do I.
I found two identical seedlings of this black viola in our gravel driveway. They are the same as the NZ plant Viola 'All Black' which is sterile so I doubt if they are from that and in any case I haven't had it for at least 5 years I think. Also like the Irish 'Molly Sanderson' which seeds about but I've never had it. Not 'Bowles' Black which is a form of V. tricolor, so who knows? Anyway, I've rescued them and will keep on with them, from cuttings.
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Then Erigeron aureus, a golden American.
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How to stuff up a plant in two easy lessons. Pic one is a new plant of Androsace jacquemontii from a couple of years ago. Pic two is the same plant today after growing outside in all weathers.
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Oxalis 'Matthew Forest' is a hybrid of Ox. laciniata.
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And two little irises, more to come tomorrow most likely. First DB Iris 'Well Suited.' These dark forms are all different but the distinctions are subtle rather than strong. I like this one, somewhat ruffled.
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And one which everyone seems to want, 'Tu Tu Turquoise.'
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This morning I went to the annual Rhododendron Day plant sale at the uper Botanic Gardens. It is the start of Rhododendron Week in Dunedin, one of our biggest tourist gatherers. As always I spent large amounts of money and met heaps of people I've not seen for years and had a great time.
Among other things, saw a plant not quite in bloom yet but one which will have the pulse racing, of Mr Ranunculus. Louise Salmond (Hokonui Alpines) has crossed R. godleyanus with R. lyallii and there was one of the babies with a fat cluster of cream, pointed buds. Louise will put it on their website homepage in a few days when fully out.
Also bought a plant labelled Heptacodium miconioides which looks like one of the scandent Philadelphus species. No-one knows it so something of a lucky dip. And I bought one third of a large pot of Arisaema jacquemontii, nicely in flower. It was hugely expensive but with nine tubers in it. I was psyching myself up to take it when two others also put out their hands for it. In the finish we paid one third each and I'll get my 3rd in April as they're just about to start growth again. (I hope!)
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I have just Googled the Heptocodium and apparently I have bought something very exciting. Its common name is Seven-Son flower and it has a stunning and fragrant display of white flowers in late summer/autumn, followed by bright red seed capsules and also displays exfoliating brown bark. It belongs to the honeysuckle family and comes from eastern China. I bought it from the botanic gardens' own stall where there are often interesting and different things, so it seems I hit the jackpot this time. Even they didn't know what it was but they did take part in a Chinese collecting expedition about 10 or 12 years ago so maybe that's where they came by it. Not bad for $5 :D
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I have just Googled the Heptocodium and apparently I have bought something very exciting. Its common name is Seven-Son flower and it has a stunning and fragrant display of white flowers in late summer/autumn, followed by bright red seed capsules and also displays exfoliating brown bark. It belongs to the honeysuckle family and comes from eastern China. I bought it from the botanic gardens' own stall where there are often interesting and different things, so it seems I hit the jackpot this time. Even they didn't know what it was but they did take part in a Chinese collecting expedition about 10 or 12 years ago so maybe that's where they came by it. Not bad for $5 :D
great day! good finds, and money saved!
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Doug,
> First flower on Arisaema consanguineum (wild collected Guy Gusman).
I've got the same plant, stunning thing. Mine flowers every year but is still a wee way off at the moment. Sadly, it's never made extra tubers for me. I wonder if the pollen would travel...?
I'm not 100% convinced that it's A. consanguineum. It's much earlier than my other clones and obviously the flowers are quite different.
Andrew.
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Hi Andrew, funny, I think I may have got the seed from you about 4 or 5 years ago. (AEG)
Small world isn't it! Look forward to your findings with the identification query.
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You seem to be enjoying your Spring Lesley !!
I love your black Viola and the 'Tu tu turquoise' Iris - a very seldom seen kind of blue !! :D
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Doug, your paeony is wonderful !
Lovely petal shape, and fantastic globular flower shape too.
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Among other things, saw a plant not quite in bloom yet but one which will have the pulse racing, of Mr Ranunculus. Louise Salmond (Hokonui Alpines) has crossed R. godleyanus with R. lyallii and there was one of the babies with a fat cluster of cream, pointed buds. Louise will put it on their website homepage in a few days when fully out.
It's racing, Lesley ... it's really racing!
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PS: what do the Iris/Juno growers/members think of Franz Köhlein's "Iris" book? Has anyone got this book?
I frequently use Kohlein's book Bill and think highly of it in general. Mathew 1, Kohlein 2, Waddick/Zhao Iris of China 3.
And if you don't have it already, you MUST get Janis Ruksans' "Buried Treasures."
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I would check my BIS species group A Guide to Species Irises as 1st choice always but I do understand that it is not now available.
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It's still around Pat but not at an affordable price. Last time I checked the cheapest price I would have had to pay was £273.00 :( :( :(
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Somewhere I have a BIS list of all species described at the time of printing - some years ago I guess - and with their group/section listed as well as flower season, colour, height etc but can NEVER find it when I want it. So much printed stuff here and thousands of books. It's just a slim paper covered brochure reallyb but useful if it ever filters through to the top again. ???
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It's still around Pat but not at an affordable price. Last time I checked the cheapest price I would have had to pay was £273.00 :( :( :(
And even if it were affordable, it's only as up to date as the last (only?) printing. With new species described and botanists/taxonamists doing their usual thing, irises as all else, change regularly so one would be paying for not necessarily the best or most recent information.
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Doug said...
> I think I may have got the seed from you about 4 or 5 years ago.
Ah, quite possible.
It only seeded once and I gave them all away.
Mine is probably 2 weeks away from having open flowers. Maybe if you've got more than one tuber I could get one off you sometime?
My first Arisaema flower is open (even A. ringens hasn't opened for me yet), I'll try and get a photo uploaded tomorrow.
Andrew.
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A. taiwanense is just showing signs of flower now
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A few things flowering here now bye Ray
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Ray, you are lucky! Such lovely flowering things with you, Muscari comosum alba caught my eye and the little gladiolus, thanks.
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I frequently use Kohlein's book Bill and think highly of it in general. Mathew 1, Kohlein 2, Waddick/Zhao Iris of China 3.
And if you don't have it already, you MUST get Janis Ruksans' "Buried Treasures."
Yes I've heard of this famous, very knowledgeable person and would love to get hold of his 'Buried Treasure'.
Any idea where I can purchage a copy of this book?
And I like that black violet as well, take a few more cuttings Lesley, would love to try it when you get more plants in the future.
Could you also send us your postal address by PM please?
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Bill,you will find it here.
http://www.amazon.com/Buried-Treasures-Finding-Growing-Choicest/dp/0881928186
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Today the weather has improved a lot, mainly sunny, with a balmy temp. of 20 dec C. good for taking more pictures.
The Leucocoryne species from South America, commonly known as glory of the sun, have scented long-lasting flowers which are
very good for picking. They are ideal for pots and containers, growing in the winter months and flowering in spring.
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Bill,you will find it here.
http://www.amazon.com/Buried-Treasures-Finding-Growing-Choicest/dp/0881928186
Thanks Michael, I go and have a look.
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Two more little charming little Iris species that I bought at the flee market yesterday, and of couse no names.
Any idea what they could be Lesley? Paul keeps telling us that you are the expert on the Irisses. Is that true? ;D ;D
Thanks anyway.
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Ray that Ixia is simply stunning love the gladys as well
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A few more of the colourful Babiana species putting up a nice display, all are spring flowering.
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Leucocoryne species to die for, Bill ... many thanks for posting.
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Ray,
That Ixia monodelpha is a cracker. If you can spare a corm at the end of the season, or it sets seed and you have a couple spare, please think of me fondly! ;) Just love the markings.
Is anyone growing Ixia rouxii? I mentioned it somewhere on the forum recently..... I so want to track it down again. Huge black centre to it, but I lost it all one year and it never set seed for me. I've never seen it again but would love to get it. Ixias are VERY cool! 8) I've take photos of some of mine, but haven't prepared them for posting yet.
Gorgeous Leucocoryne and Babianas Bill. I have purpurea and vittata about to flower here, but nothing like the display of them that you have of course. Excellent pictures as always. As to your irises..... the yellow is one of the Pacific Coast hybrids I would imagine, it's definitely one of the complex anyway.
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And if you don't have it already, you MUST get Janis Ruksans' "Buried Treasures."
Yes I've heard of this famous, very knowledgeable person and would love to get hold of his 'Buried Treasure'.
Any idea where I can purchage a copy of this book?
Bill, I think David Shaw might have the book in stock in the SRGC Bookshop, for £27 plus postage.... you can email him @ delftshaws(AT)hotmail.com ::)
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more wonders!
ray--looks like you have a lot of choice little species--love that Glad-roseum, i think it was!
bill--some of those Babianas look like colour altered photos!
lesley--i'd missed your post with the black viola, but everyone kept mentioning it, so i had to go look--its really black!
i have a group of tricolors that have popped up where the only other viola (besides wild ones!) within 100m (and a house between) is a V labradorica (not the real one, the european impostor that gerd mentioned, i've forgotten the name) and its not in an old bed, its a spot i dug sod on this summer... ??? could the labradorica (also new) have crossed with something at the nursery and spawned these perfect little tricolors?
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Bill, both little irises are Pacific Coasters, the yellow almost certainly a nice form (selection) of I. innominata, perhaps bred up a little. The second has wider foliage so probably has some douglasiana in it. There are super dwarf forms of douglasiana, some only 15 cms high. I have a nice one a bit taller and just beginning to bud up now. The colour is the same as yours but the petals a bit wider. Pic below. You can have some fresh seed later if you like.
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Bill, to meet Janis you should be looking at the crocus topics. Start with Crocus October 2009.
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Howdy All,
So much in flower and foliage here at the moment...... I hope some of these won't bore you too much after all the brilliant pics we've had recently. 8)
A selection of Gazanias in flower at the moment right on the edge of our nature strip where they don't get watered by anything but what the goddess provides.....
Some Linaria in full flower here at present.
Acer 'Bloodgood' has just put out it's leaves along with the other maples.
Anemone nemorosa 'Baby Blue Eyes' is in flower now.
Asphodeline lutea never makes a good pic as there are always flowers that are over. Still makes a good display though.
Please click on the pics for a larger version.
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And some more....
... including..... Arctotis, Fritillaria meleagris alba, Cerinthe major purpurascens, Dianthus deltioides, Euphorbia x martinii 'Michael McCoy', Felicia mellioides variegata, and Pittosporum 'James Stirling', which has the most amazing perfume that spreads for long distances. So many thousands of flowers.... well it did until we had our fence replaced this week. It was 25 feet high at least, now it is less than 6 feet tall. None of the flowers you see in the mass pic exist any more, but the ones in the closeup still do as they were low enough to stay for the moment. 8)
Please click on the pics for a larger version.
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And lastly for now...
Prostanthera sp., Banksia Rose, Sanguinaria canadense flore plena (flowering a week or so ago -Thanks Otto!!!!!), Syringa (Lilac) 'Congo' and Wisteria longissima with flowers about 1m long at this stage. And that piece of scrappy fence behind it no longer exists any more!! 8)
I've also posted pics in various other specific sections throughout the forums.
Enjoy.
Please click on the pics for a larger version.
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bill--some of those Babianas look like colour altered photos!
Good spotting Cohan, these pix where snapped late in the day, when light was fading.
It will still give you an idea what the colour looks like.
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Bill, I think David Shaw might have the book in stock in the SRGC Bookshop, for £27 plus postage.... you can email him @ delftshaws(AT)hotmail.com ::)
Thanks again Maggi, I will email David Shaw straight away.
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.... I hope some of these won't bore you too much after all the brilliant pics we've had recently.
- Not at all Paul! What a nice set of spring flowers - love the roadside planting and
the longissima Wisteria very much.
Gerd
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bill--some of those Babianas look like colour altered photos!
Good spotting Cohan, these pix where snapped late in the day, when light was fading.
It will still give you an idea what the colour looks like.
oh no, bill! i didnt mean in any way to criticise the photos--i just meant those flowers have such shocking colour combinations that they almost look like something someone made in photoshop, reversing colours or something--and i mean that in a good way ;)
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And some more....
... including..... Arctotis, Fritillaria meleagris alba, Cerinthe major purpurascens, Dianthus deltioides, Euphorbia x martinii 'Michael McCoy', Felicia mellioides variegata, and Pittostporum 'James Stirling', which has the most amazing perfume that spreads for long distances. So many thousands of flowers.... well it did until we had our fence replaced this week. It was 25 feet high at least, now it is less than 6 feet tall. None of the flowers you see in the mass pic exist any more, but the ones in the closeup still do as they were low enough to stay for the moment. 8)
Please click on the pics for a larger version.
you really are in full swing, paul! you always make it sound like you have a garden of 5 square feet and dont grow anything nice--and look at all those lovely things in flower :)
is this your biggest season, now, before the heat arrives full force?
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Thanks Gerd. The Wisteria longissima is my favourite of them too, but my old pink 'Carnea' that was 13 years of age has just dropped dead, quite disappointingly. I'll replace it with another Wisteria, but no idea why it never came out of dormancy. Strange!! ???
Cohan,
Believe me, most people who know my garden can't believe where I fit everything. My garden is engineered to flower all the year, but there are a number of peaks. There's sort of an early and a late spring peak (we're hitting the late spring peak now, although poor flowering on my bearded iris this year for some reason ::)). Later on we'll have the Hibiscus, Abutilons, Dahlias, Cannas, Salvias, etc through the height of summer. There's always something going on. ;D
I've prepared yet more pics to bore you (or not) when I get to posting them later tonight. 8)
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Wow Paul !! What a show - as everybody else, I find your Wisteria longissima absolutely stunning !!! Like a waterfall of bloom ! 8)
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Luc,
In ideal condition I have seen longissima with flower stems a full 6 feet in length, just like a curtain. One of my two plants has better water I think, and it's flowers are longer this year than the other plant. Unfortunately one was bought as longissima alba, but wasn't at all alba. ::) Would have been spectacular to have the two of them in flower at the same time in white and purple.
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Ixia viridiflora flowering today.
Hi Paul,should be able to help you out with the Ixia in the autumn,also have Ixia rouxii but it is a bit like viridiflora you never know if you will have next year.At SR's nursery in MT Macedon in Sept he had heaps of I rouxii,first time I had ever seen it in a nursery.bye Ray
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Glorious, Ray. I vividly recall the colour. See if you can hand pollinate it for seed, as they are supposed to be quite short lived (although mine did last many years before it died out) and seed sowing is the way to keep it going. Might be worthwhile trying that for your rouxii as well, just for your own safety. I have some pastel shades in Ixia polystachya if you're interested in trading. They're the latest of the Ixias for me here, and as well as the 'Baby Blue Eyes' (white with a blue eye) and pure white I have a mix of pale pinks and white with a dark eye. You don't see them that often, which is why I am mentioning them.
Hmmm..... I might have to try to arrange a rouxii purchase from SR by someone down in that region I think. Might be the best way to go? Thanks for the heads up.
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Howdy All,
You'll probably all be very relieved to know that these will be the last pics I post today. You'll find them dotted all over the forums from my postings today, chewing up your bandwidth and getting in the way. ;D ;D
Anyway, here's Brunnera 'Jack Frost', a double orange poppy that I have never properly worked out the name for, and a couple of shots of part of my front garden. The shot out toward the big photinia has the Wonga Wonga vine on the left of it (as seen in the Aussie natives topic) and is part of the view from my front door looking out into the garden. The second shot is mostly the same things as in the first shot, but taken from down within the garden looking back towards the house.
Enjoy.
Please click on the pic for a larger version.
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paul--lovely shot of the front garden! lots of colour and texture..
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Yes it's certainly a lovely Wisteria, very Japanese with its long racemes. The stumpier ones though gorgeous, look less oriental. :)
Paul, usually the cause of bearded irises failing to flower well is that they maybe need lifting and dividing with big strong rhizomes replacing the older ones. That could be your problem? Otherwise, a topdressing with some well composted humus and lime.
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More little bearded irises today but starting with one of my favourite plants, Rubus x Tridel 'Benendon.'
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Carats
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Footlights
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Sparky
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Cinnamon Apples
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Busy Bee
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Lemon Puff
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Desert Orange
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This has lovely colour but overall, is weak with unhealthy foliage.
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Lesley,
Definitely not the case with a lot of mine at the moment..... just for some reason I haven't got many spikes. I gave them all a good feed last summer as well, so they should have been fine. Just one of those quirks I think. A shame too, as our Horticultural Society Iris, Rhododendron and Azalea show is this weekend. ::)
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Ixia viridiflora flowering today.
Hi Ray,
I think you're growing the hybrid "Teal" ( or "Amysthena"?) rather than the species. I had the true Ixia viridiflora many years ago and it is truly green rather than this duck-egg blue ( which I love nonetheless). The true species is much less easy to keep in cultivation and the hybrid has been grown as a substitute for a long time here in Oz (and other places).
cheers
fermi
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Fermi,
In that case we have more varieties here than we thought we did. My 'Amethystina' is definitely not what Ray is growing. It doesn't have anywhere near depth of colour in the centre, the flowers are rounder and closer together, and it is much bluer than I see in Ray's pic (which I see as a greeny blue, rather than a blue). If you're saying that there is even further green in the species then there are even more things going around as the true species. That beautiful blue-green in Ray's with the large dark centre is what I remember as viridiflora. I wonder how many different things we have under the name then?
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Folks,
A Clivia miniata hybrid flowering at the moment, obtained near death from the local Bunnings mid-November last year, for $5 or something.
A quick repot and a year under a Camellia seems to be doing it some good...
Andrew.
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Folks,
The same form of Arisaema consanguineum (ex Guy Gusman) that Doug posted the other day.
Mine is still a few days off having the flower open. The single leaflet rising out of the middle is typical of A. consanguineum so it possibly really is that species.
Andrew.
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Folks,
My first open Arisaema flower this (and every) year is the hybrid between Aris. sikokianum and Aris. takedae (now Aris. serratum I think). Sadly, like both parents it doesn't seem keen to divide so I've only ever had the one plant of this clone and my other clone went the way of every Aris. sikokianum I've tried to grow. :(
Still, a nice thing.
Andrew.
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Folks,
Babiana rubrocyanea, not as nice a display as Bills but the wind and rain hasn't been kind to them for me this spring.
Andrew.
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Folks,
A plant I obtained as Lachenalia zeyheri but people have suggested it's actually L. contaminata. I remain to be convinced so am sticking to the label it came with. It divides readily and seeds freely for me, one of the few Lachenalia to do either under my conditions.
Andrew.
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Folks,
Ledebouria cooperi (often distributed as Scilla adlamii or S. cooperi). Not flowering just yet but the leaves are looking good.
Andrew.
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Andrew,
Great pics. I love that Arisaema hybrid... beautifully dark flowers. You have me concerned about my Scilla adlamii/cooperi/whatever now. I think it has gone to the Goddess. ::)
Nice motorcycle!! FAR more interesting background view than my crappy back yard. ;D 8)
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Hi Fermi,you may be correct in saying that this Ixia is not the true species,but it is a good imitation of it, and no way is it Teal or Amethystina,the petals are an aqua colour not blue.My blue Ixia's are at least 2 weeks away from flowering.After many years of having this bulb this year I will have 4 flower spikes so I agree with you that it is not easy to grow in cultivation and I wish it did grow like Teal.bye Ray
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Bill, both little irises are Pacific Coasters, the yellow almost certainly a nice form (selection) of I. innominata, perhaps bred up a little. The second has wider foliage so probably has some douglasiana in it. There are super dwarf forms of douglasiana, some only 15 cms high. I have a nice one a bit taller and just beginning to bud up now. The colour is the same as yours but the petals a bit wider. Pic below. You can have some fresh seed later if you like.
Thanks for the approx.ID for those PC irises Lesley, and perhaps we could exchange more seed or bulbs later, when we swap our wanted seed or bulb list privatly.
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A Paeony and Lachenalia taken today bye Ray
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Glorious, Ray. I vividly recall the colour. See if you can hand pollinate it for seed, as they are supposed to be quite short lived (although mine did last many years before it died out) and seed sowing is the way to keep it going. Might be worthwhile trying that for your rouxii as well, just for your own safety. I have some pastel shades in Ixia polystachya if you're interested in trading. They're the latest of the Ixias for me here, and as well as the 'Baby Blue Eyes' (white with a blue eye) and pure white I have a mix of pale pinks and white with a dark eye. You don't see them that often, which is why I am mentioning them.
Paul, if you're stuck for seed of the Ixia viridiflora, I might have some spare seed of this species later.
I suppose its no good sending bulblets, with AQIS causing some problems?
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Glorious, Ray. I vividly recall the colour. See if you can hand pollinate it for seed, as they are supposed to be quite short lived (although mine did last many years before it died out) and seed sowing is the way to keep it going. Might be worthwhile trying that for your rouxii as well, just for your own safety. I have some pastel shades in Ixia polystachya if you're interested in trading. They're the latest of the Ixias for me here, and as well as the 'Baby Blue Eyes' (white with a blue eye) and pure white I have a mix of pale pinks and white with a dark eye. You don't see them that often, which is why I am mentioning them.
Sorry Paul forgot to post the pictures of the Iris viridiflora.
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OK, now for something different altogether, the exquisite but sometimes temperamental Xeronema callistemon.
The spectacular red flowering Poor Knights lily, Xeronema callistemon, is an outstanding but little know plant, which was discovered on the Poor Knights Islands in 1924. It has handsome tussocks of bright green flax-like foliage from which spring the three feet flower spikes which terminate in great trusses of blossom. The flowers are made up of nectar-filled florets crowded on a horizontal stalk, almost in the manner of a bottle brush. The flowers last for a long time and their development and gradually changing colour from green to crimson is most fascinating. Though quite easy to grow in any free, loose soil where it gets plenty of sun, but give it some afternoon shade in warmer climates. It does best in fast-draining soil, with regular, light waterings.
Wouldn't that make a nice feature fot the big rock garden.!!!
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Dichelostemma ida-maia, aka as the firecracker flower, producing scarlet flowers with green tips in lat spring.
If anybody is thinking/wondering why all the flowers are so clearly visible, quite simple, I place the container on a angle/lean toward the camera, so all the flowers are now more obvious and make a better display.
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Bill,
The ixia is gorgeous. If you do have spare seed that would be wonderful. It would be interesting to see how it compares to what I used to grow here under the name as well.
The Xeronema is absolutely amazing!!! :o :o :o Is this available in cultivation? That is a cracker of a floral display.
Ray,
That Paeonia delaveyi is a stunner!!
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Watsonia aletroides is one of the most attractive of the smaller flowering species.
The narrow tubular flowers hang from stems about 40-50 cm. tall in spring and are very distinctive.
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The ixia is gorgeous. If you do have spare seed that would be wonderful. It would be interesting to see how it compares to what I used to grow here under the name as well.
The Xeronema is absolutely amazing!!! :o :o :o Is this available in cultivation? That is a cracker of a floral display.
I am not sure if Xeronema callistemon would be available in Austalia, you would have to make inquires from a specialist grower.
I might have seed available later, but can take up to 8-9 years to flower, best to buy a plant, (not cheap) if you don't want to wait that long.
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Bill the Xeronema callistemon is stunning and fantastic,but i adore the ixia viridiflora the colour is just to die for
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Bill,
Well someone must be growing the Xeronema here, as they are on our quarantine list (both your species and X. moorei). The 8 or 9 years could well be worth the wait I must admit. Looks like the leaves are interesting enough as well. WELL worth it for those flowers. :o
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Bill
Loved the Xeronema callistemon 8), never seen this plant before.
Do you have any pictures of grass trees ( Xanthorrhoea ) ?
Angie :)
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Felt I had to try to track this gorgeous Xeronema in the UK.... plantfinder tells me it is listed by this nursery :Trevena Cross Nurseries | Contact Graham Jeffery, John Eddy
Address Breage
Helston
Cornwall
TR13 9PY
United Kingdom
Telephone (01736) 763880
Fax (01736) 762828
Email sales@trevenacross.co.uk
Website www.trevenacross.co.uk ..... but a search of the site shows no sign of it. They have shown it in previous issues of the plantfinder book too, so perhaps there is hope for another year!
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I think Ray's Ixia viridiflora is pretty much the right thing.
(Re: October 2009 in the Southern Hemisphere page 16...
« Reply #236 on: October 20, 2009, 11:35:01 AM » )
On my screen it is definitely green rather than blue and the flower shape is right. It is always a sea green rather than grass.
Compare it with this hybrid, which appeared in a friend's garden.
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Paul, the Xeronema is definitely tender. I had one once in another garden and the first light frost to touch it...dead!
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I have some dwarf bearded irises to post but I think the locals are getting bored with them so I'll just put them on the Bearded Iris page. :)
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I have some dwarf bearded irises to post but I think the locals are getting bored with them so I'll just put them on the Bearded Iris page. :)
Saves the cross-posting, Lesley and it is easy enough to flag up here that they can be seen in the Iris pages.
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Lesley,
Thanks for the Xeronema frost tenderness information. Does sort of complicate growing it here. I shall just have to love it from afar!! ;D ;D
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Hi Fermi,you may be correct in saying that this Ixia is not the true species,but it is a good imitation of it, and no way is it Teal or Amethystina,the petals are an aqua colour not blue.My blue Ixia's are at least 2 weeks away from flowering.After many years of having this bulb this year I will have 4 flower spikes so I agree with you that it is not easy to grow in cultivation and I wish it did grow like Teal.bye Ray
Sorry to doubt you, Ray. As it is a long time since I grew the true species my memory may be more vivid than the true plant! ;D
The difficulty in keeping it may be the main indication that it's the real deal.
I'll wait to see if the seed from RSA produces anything closer to what I remember.
cheers
fermi
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Paul,
I've had a tray of Xeronema seed grown plants sitting outside for 2 or 3 winters with no problems. We get several frosts a year, generally only down to -3C or so but occasionally down to -5C or more.
They do fine in their cramped tray but as soon as I try and move one in to a 'proper' pot it immediately dies... :( The parent plants are in a garden in Wanganui (45 minutes from me but close to the sea) and flower prolifically every year. I'll see if my buddy has any seed next time I'm talking to him.
Andrew.
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Paul, the Xeronema is definitely tender. I had one once in another garden and the first light frost to touch it...dead!
Yes Lesley is right to a certain degree, Xeronema callistemon does not like heavy frost, like the heavy frost she gets sometimes in the deep south, and if planted in the wrong spot, like a cold, damp, poorly drained position, yes one can loose the plant.
We have had many light frosts up here in the North Island this winter (admittedly no heavy frost) and it never effected the plants, they survived no problem, and went on to flower magnificently, in spite of the light frosts we experienced.
Again, if you can provide the right location and conditions, don't let it stop you from trying, this plant can be a real show stopper in your garden and award you with a display to die for.
The Xeronema callistemon can also be grown (and often more successful) and flowering in a container, which can be relocated as required and placed on the patio or deck to great effect, as can be in this picture taken a few years ago.
In a container it does not mind being rootbound, which can actually promote flowering more quickly and prolifically.
If you enjoy a challenge, or like the bold, handsome foliage or both than the Poor Knights lily is worth a try.
Why not give it a go Paul, even in a container.
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Bill,
Spoken like a true salesman. I'll have 6 please!! ;D
Seriously though, by the sound of it I'd give it a go at least. Given it's aptitude to pots, that helps a lot. In my little covered shadehouse over winter on a top shelf for extra warmth, another one on the front stairs next to the Worsleya, maybe another against the front of the house. Even if the seedlings take ages I still think it would be worth it for the unusualness alone (not like that has EVER affected my choice of plants before ::). Addict, thy name is Paul. :o
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I think Ray's Ixia viridiflora is pretty much the right thing.
On my screen it is definitely green rather than blue and the flower shape is right. It is always a sea green rather than grass.
Compare it with this hybrid, which appeared in a friend's garden.
As far as the Ixia viridiflora is concerned, they can be a striking greenish-blue or turquoise colour.
We grow two different clones/selected forms and both are distinctive in colour as opposed to the (sea) green colour.
Even Brian Mathew in his 'Dwarf Bulbs' book describe the I.viridiflora as extraordinary greenish blue flowers with a blackish-purple eye.
And well known author Patrick M.Synce in his 'Bulbs' book defines this plant as an startling shade of elctric greenish blue colour, a most unusual plant.
Anyway I enjoy the magnificient Ixia viridiflora immensely, one of my favourites, whatever shade of colour.
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Another couple of plants flowering in the garden/nursery.
The well known popular Iris sibrica and an very colourful Australia import called Russellia equisetiformis (I think).
Is that the right spelling Paul, do you know/grow it?
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The blue stands of Iris siberica are heavenly, Bill, always something astonishingly beautiful comes out of your nursery :D
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Bill - The Russellia is exquisite!
johnw
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Bill,
Have seen it growing before, but never knew what it was to be honest. Briliant plant, isn't it!! 8)
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Some little things today.
Rhododendron Oban and in close-up
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Haberlea rhodopensis virginalis
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Houstonia caerulea
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and both together
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Trillium pusillum var ozarkanum
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and two of Fritillaria cirrhosa. I bought this just a week ago and at the time thought it could be affinis (still in bud then) but gloriously, it is true. 8)
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Wonderful Lesley, all of them. :o :o
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Lesley
A smashing Oban. It really is a unique shade of pink that's hard to describe and one of my favourites.
I think huge flocks of birds (evening grosbeaks?) have stripped the Gaylussacias bare but remind me next August for seed. Obviously you have sprouted it before unlike most. I wonder why some have problems with it.
johnw
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John, my Gaylussacia wan't grown from seed, not by me at any rate. I bought it from, I think, the late Jim LeComte who had many wonderful ericaceous small plants in his nursery. I think he imported it from Scotland in the first place.
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Zantedeschia aethiopica 'Marshmallow'
This delightful new variety has just opened up and produces the most beautiful pearl white flowers with a delicious marshmallow pink throat.
These elegant flowers are complimented by lush, deep green glossy foliage. The slender stemmed blooms make lovely cut flowers.
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and two of Fritillaria cirrhosa. I bought this just a week ago and at the time thought it could be affinis (still in bud then) but gloriously, it is true. 8)
Lesley, that Friillaria cirrhosa is just gorgeous, I wish I could grow Frits like that.
Must be the climate, that does not stop me from trying again, even if they only last a few seasons.
You must tell me sometimes privately where you buy all those exquisite Frits, for next season.
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Bill,
Do you find that Marshmallow, aka Pink Mist aka another name I've forgotten just now, flowers well for you? Unlike the straight aethopica which is a brilliant flowerer, I find that the "pink" version has very few flowers for me each year, if I am lucky enough to get any of them. I am guessing that it must require a lot more water than the species does to flower, and I'm just treating mine the same as the species and the other coloured smaller varieties. ::)
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A couple of charming, interesting, early spring flowering little species.
They have finished flowering for now, but will still show the pictures for a bit of variety.
Polyxena pauciflora has flowrs that are pale to deep lilac in colour, and has a delightful honey scented perfume as a bonus.
Scilla verna has starry lilac-blue flowers with deep lavender anthers appearing just above the foliage in spring.
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Bill,Do you find that Marshmallow, aka Pink Mist aka another name I've forgotten just now, flowers well for you? Unlike the straight aethopica which is a brilliant flowerer, I find that the "pink" version has very few flowers for me each year, if I am lucky enough to get any of them. I am guessing that it must require a lot more water than the species does to flower, and I'm just treating mine the same as the species and the other coloured smaller varieties. ::)
I bought this plant last season, and has settle down well, but has only produces 3 flowers so far.
I have seen this Marshmallow plant commercially forming big clumps, with plenty of flowers, mainly for cut flower production.
I was told they need plenty of water during the growing season, to promote more flowers for picking.
I have not tried the straight Z.aethopica, but grow a few of the many, smaller mainly colourful varieties.
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Bill,
The straight species still flowers well for me without being watered any more than the normal garden. Sounds like I should put the pink back into a pot and sit it in a basin of water while in growth to get more flowers from it. At the moment for me it has been pretty much a pointless effort, given the lack of flowers.
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Wonderful plants in your garden, Lesley, the Rhododendron Oban looks almost raspberry in colour, really lovely.
The plant combination that has caught my eye is Haberlea rhodopensis virginalis with Houstonia caerulea, both are so unusual looking and I have never heard of them before.
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Folks,
Arisaema ringens, common but still a nice plant. A bit slower for me this year for some reason.
Andrew.
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Folks,
Bulbinella caudis-felis, I think the robot must've coughed when making the flower in the 2nd photo.
This one generally sets seed for me if anyone is interested?
Andrew.
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Folks,
Gladiolus carneus, the first flower for the season - I expect several more over the weeks.
I *like* species Gladiolus. :)
Andrew.
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Love that gladiolus Andrew.
Visited a friends garden who has some stunning plants, here's a couple of beauties.
Rhododendron 'Lems Cameo'
Arisaema kishidae
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Folks,
Gladiolus carneus, the first flower for the season - I expect several more over the weeks.
I *like* species Gladiolus. :)
Andrew.
A super looking gladiolus, Andrew - would love to see it later on with more flowers if possible?
Also love you photo of Arisaema ringens showing the markings and shape off :D
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Rhododendron 'Lems Cameo' is soooo beautiful, Doug, your friend must be really pleased - perfect conditions it seems 8)
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Bill, there's nothing private about any of my frits. I buy if they are available and cirrhosa came from Hokonui Alpines in Gore but the vast majority (I have about 90) are grown over many years from seed. You could join the NZ Fritillaria Group who have a decent seed list and there's the Frit group of AGS in the UK who have a better seed list though not all are on the Bio Index. Maybe in the summer you'd like to think about swapping a few of your gorgeous South Africans for a few of my frits? We'll talk about it soon.
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Robin, Rh. 'Oban' is a real honey, very small and compact but is one I always hesitate to photograph because the colour never comes out right. I posted it this time because it's the closest I've managed. The pink has a real touch of terra cotta in it which I find impossible to capture, so if you think it's nice here, it really is much nicer in the real thing. Happily, it's very easy and quick from cuttings too.
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Tropaeolum beuthii from SRGC Seedex 2009
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Dutch Iris "Thunderbolt"
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And Asphodeline damascena is about to start flowering; it's between the iris and the dianthus ;D
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cheers
fermi
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Fermi,
Great pics. I don't think I've heard of Thunderbolt before (what a great colour), the Trop is gorgeous, and the Asphodeline is so full of promise. Asphodeline lutea is in flower here at the moment..... I can't begin to guess how many flowers there must be in the flowerhead over the life of it as there are new ones every day from multiple points, over and over again. 8) What are the flowers on damascena like?
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I've put some more little beardies on the Bearded Iris topic.
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Flowering in the South today bye Ray
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Ray,
Very cool. Way to big for my garden..... if I had acreage there would definitely be one on the property!! ;D
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At one stage there were a lot of trees planted here for the timber trade. I believe Paulownia is a light-weight wood, bt I've heard nothing of it for 10 or 15 years so maybe it all went pear-shaped.
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This lovely campanula is C. oreadum, courtesy Mr Buttercup as seed. I hope to be able to take a pic in a little while with more flowers open.
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and a Rhododendron which has given me a sharp reminder that it's not good to keep things in pots too long. R. glaucophyllum album was a compact plant when I bought it from the local Rh Grp plant list then became leggy over a couple of years. Last year it almost died from drought but then came away at the base to flower now. I'll trim off the "legs" and encourage the bushy base. And it will be planted out almost immediately.
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Some nice plants folks.
Here's my contribution
A lovely yellow Trillium sulcatum with a slight red edging i raised from home open pollinated seed sown 2002.
The yellowing is a lot darker than what is shown here.
Cheers dave.
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Dave,
Wow!! :o :o Beautiful. Must be thrilling to get home seedlings to flower like that. Must be good to get home parents to set seed like that! ::) Everyone will be clamouring for seed from you now. ;D ;D
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A lovely yellow Trillium sulcatum with a slight red edging i raised from home open pollinated seed sown 2002.
Yeah Yeah. It's not as if it's an exciting buttercup hybrid or anything rare or exceptional Dave. ( ;D)
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A lovely yellow Trillium sulcatum with a slight red edging
Absolutely gorgeous, Dave, many congratulations on your first flower 8)
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Asphodeline lutea is in flower here at the moment..... What are the flowers on damascena like?
Hi Paul,
Asphodeline damascena was grown from NARGS 2000 (?) Seedex and was donated by more than 3 donors which seems a bit strange as no one has donated it again since (well, I have this year) so I'm not sure who donated it and whether it is any different to A. taurica (which Vojtech Holubec grows and has donated to NARGS Sdx).
The flowers open in the late pm so I didn't get pics till the other day:
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cheers
fermi
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Very nice, Fermi. Like the lutea there are lots of flowering points producing a succession of flowers. Good stuff!! 8)
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Here's something new (for me...) flowering in my collection - Griffinia espiritensis - smashing colour!
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Great photo, Rogan, so delicate in colouring does it have one flower per stem or more?
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Tree Paeony Honeycomb
Trillium grandiflorum (pic a few weeks old)
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It's a pretty little thing Robin. Two flowers are open at the moment with three buds to come. Here's a view from the side:
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Some plants flowering here today.bye Ray
Gladiolus sp.JPG
Allium schubertii.JPG
Geissorhiza tulbaghensis The Geissorhiza should read darlingensis.
Ixia paniculata.JPG
Moraea bellendenii.JPG
Moraea sp.JPG
Nectarscordum siculum.JPG
Tritiona sp.JPG
Wachendorfia paniculata.JPG
Watsonia rosa alba.JPG
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Rogan,
Congratulations!! Beautiful.
Galahad,
Very nice. Great colour to the Paeony.
Ray,
Some nice stuff in there. The Moraea is great, but the colour in the Wachendorfia is amazing!! :o
Thanks for posting, everyone. 8)
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What family is your Griffinia Rogan? From the side it looks a bit like Amaryllis? but not from the front.
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Ross,
that tree peony is amazing - does it open darker and fade or vice versa?
The Daphne alpina in the rock garden is in full bloom now,
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And Genista lydia is just about at its peak,
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Earlier I posted a pic of Leucoryne purpurea which I said was from some "mixed hybrids", this is the "other" one in the mix,
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And this one was grown from seed as L. vittata,
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Allium nevskianum in flower outdoors but in a pot,
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cheers
fermi
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Ross,
that tree peony is amazing - does it open darker and fade or vice versa?
Fermi, it opens a brownish/yellow colour and fades to the paler yellow you see in the pic
I have another tree paeony which has really nice, finely cut foliage and rich, red flowers like a rose but it isn't doing that well.
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A recent gift --
The Podophyllum hexandrum i already have is white --this one is a soft pink, (coral),form.
Cheers dave
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What family is your Griffinia Rogan?
You're quite right Lesley, it is an amaryllid - supposed to be the closest living relative to the celebrated Blue Amaryllis, Worsleya procera. To me it is very close in terms of flower colour only - my two young worsleyas are starting to look like little palm trees!
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Ray,
Love your Paulownia, really jealous. I have a tree of similar size but never a flower and while it is an excellent foliage tree, some flowers would be so welcome.
Paddy
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A recent gift --
The Podophyllum hexandrum i already have is white --this one is a soft pink, (coral),form.
Cheers dave
It is a lovely colour Dave, aren't they amazing :)
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While we're on the subject of trees, driving through the mainstreet in Tauranga, I had to stop and take this picture.
The first tree is our native Pohutukawa, (Metroisideros excelsa), probably the most spectacular and colourful crimson flowering native tree.
The second is also a well-known and appreciated tree, the mauve Jacaranda tree, making another colourful display.
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OK, back to the Alliums this time, two very nice species flowering right now .
Allium christophii, numerous star-shaped, silver-pink flowers are carried in distinctive large heads, good for picking and excellent dried.
Allium schubertii, a curious species,with huge umbels having pale rose flowers on on pedicels of greatly differing lengths.
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While we're on the subject of trees, driving through the mainstreet in Tauranga, I had to stop and take this picture.
The first tree is our native Pohutukawa, (Metroisideros excelsa), probably the most spectacular and colourful crimson flowering native tree.
The second is also a well-known and appreciated tree, the mauve Jacaranda tree, making another colourful display.
A stunning view Bill !! :o
Thanks for stopping and taking a picture for us ! ;)
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Here's something new (for me...) flowering in my collection - Griffinia espiritensis - smashing colour!
Rogan,that's a lovely flower and colour to match of that Griffinia espiritensis.
If you get some seed later, I would love to exchange a few seeds, for anything you might be interested in.
Thanks, Bill
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While we're on the subject of trees, driving through the mainstreet in Tauranga, I had to stop and take this picture.
The first tree is our native Pohutukawa, (Metroisideros excelsa), probably the most spectacular and colourful crimson flowering native tree.
The second is also a well-known and appreciated tree, the mauve Jacaranda tree, making another colourful display.
Bill, I'm over the moon with your photo - I love the *Jacaranda tree, what a fabulous colour combination with the native Pohutukawa
* A friend of mine had grown some from seed and has promised me one - it grows in Liguria/Italy - if there is one tree I have to grow it's this one :)
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A nice picture of Gladiolus carneus, I think, not 100% sure, does anyone knows this species?
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The second is also a well-known and appreciated tree, the mauve Jacaranda tree, making another colourful display.
The jacaranda trees are in full bloom in here in SA too. There are plenty on the varsity campuses and the superstition amongst the students and lecturers is that if you haven't started studying for year-end exams by the time the jacarandas have started blooming, things aren't looking too good for you! ::) On the other hand, if a flower falls on your head, it's a sign of luck and you should pass. Hence they are popular places to sit during the exam period!
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Bill, I'm over the moon with your photo - I love the *Jacaranda tree, what a fabulous colour combination with the native Pohutukawa
* A friend of mine had grown some from seed and has promised me one - it grows in Liguria/Italy - if there is one tree I have to grow it's this one :)
Robin, would you like a high resolution image for your screensaver?
You'd be more than welcome, just drop me a line.
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It's a pretty little thing Robin.
Rogan - The Griffinia is sensational, the colour arresting. You should save some pollen and dab it on other Amaryllidaceae! Can you image getting that blood into Rhodophiala?
How large are the bulbs and flowers?
johnw
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Dear Mr Dijk, do you have a small confession to make? Are you, by any chance, using a colour enhancement function in some of your pictures? ;D
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Dave, your pink-flowered Podophyllum is a stunner. I do hope you are hand pollinating! :)
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Dear Mr Dijk, do you have a small confession to make? Are you, by any chance, using a colour enhancement function in some of your pictures? ;D
Dear Mrs.Cox, yes I humbly confess being guilty of using a software program called FastStone Image Viewer (a very good free program) that I use with various functions, like image viewer, management, comparison, red eye, contrast, cropping, and colour ajustments features if necessary.
I sometimes use this image viewer sparingly to improve the quality of the picture, like contrast or brightness, if the the image was under or over exposed, as well as cropping or resizing the pictures.
If, on the odd occasion the contrast and brightness is not always right, I try to enhance the image as close as possible to the true colours, which can at times turn out brighter or duller, depending on the weather, and/or on whatever settings the camera can produce.
Anyway, I will always keep on trying to present the highest possible quality images to the best of my ability.
Thanks for your posting and concerns Lesley, regarding the pictures, always appreciated.
No rest for the digitally enhancing criminal ;D ;D ;D
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Another couple of geophytes that are flowering at the moment.
Sandersonia aurentiaca is another colourful species, and the rich golden bell-shaped flowers are in high demand for floral work.
Conanthera bifolia: this native from Chile with flowers of a blue to deep purple blue and a cone of yellow anthers protruding from the center, make a good contrast to the blue perianth.
No enhancement or manipulating the images necessary this time. 8) ;D :D
BTW: the colour of the Conanthera could have been a bit darker, will try harder next time :-[ :-[ :-[
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Bill,
The Gladiolus doesn't mesh with my mental image of G. carneus. I don't recall that delicate pink shading, and the shape looks a bit different I think? I'll see if I can find out more.
I love the pics you're posting, even if some are colour-wise too good to be true. That Conanthera is glorious. :o The street trees are pretty spectacular, aren't they!!
Dave,
That Podophyllum is wonderful. What a colour. I have to find sources here in Aus for more of these. 8)
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Hi Bill,i think G carneus looks more like my pic in reply 316 this topic.bye Ray
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Here is another classic example whereby the camera takes a snapshot of this colourful Calydorea xiphioides, which turned out to be slightly overexposed.
By digitally manipulating the image in the second picture, FastStone Image Viewer can enhance the colour to the point of being reasonable true, better than it was before. We end up with the right image, problem solved.
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Its that time of the season once again to harvest the seeds of our cross pollinating/breeding the various species and/or cultivars and trying to raise some interesting, exciting new hybrids, hopefully with the good charicteristics of both parent plants, we aimed for.
I always get a kick out of seeing the first flower/seedling open up, sometimes exciting when it turned out to be a beauty, other times disappointing, but always something to look forward to.
The pictures shows mainly nice fat seedpods of Narc. cyclamineus species crossed with other fertile varieties like Snipe, Little Beauty, Atom, Gipsy Queen, Golden Snipe, Kibitzer, Mitzy, just to mention a few.
No, the the seedpods have not been digitally enlarged ;D ;D ;D
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Hi Bill,i think G carneus looks more like my pic in reply 316 this topic.bye Ray
Ray, yes your Gladiolus sp. is definitely Glad. carneus, according to the picture in the 'Gladiolus in Southern Africa' book by Peter Goldblatt and John Manning, and watercolours by Fay Anderson.
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Bill,
That is more like my mental image of the species. Yours lacks the dark chevrons etc, and has quite an interesting look for exactly that fact. I don't know what yours is, but it is very nice. Much more "delicate" looking without the dark markings, and I love the delicate shadings of colour.
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Nice pods Bill, seed always excites me unduly...
"that's a lovely flower and colour to match of that Griffinia espiritensis.
If you get some seed later, I would love to exchange a few seeds, for anything you might be interested in.
Thanks"
Sorry to have to say this but my plant is monoclonal and is unlikely to set seed. I will however, be saving some pollen under dry, freezing conditions, so if anybody else wants some for their plants, please let me know.
John, the flowers are approximately 40mm across and the bulbs somewhat less - they seem to offset freely.
Bill, I've had seed-raised bulbs of Calydorea xiphioides for many years now and they never flower - is there a secret to getting them to do so? Judging by your beautiful photos they are very striking little plants indeed.
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Iris cypriana is the blue behind the Iris purpureobracteata
Iris pallida and the Australian native bulb whose name escapes me at the moment
then with a black card behind it
and an unknown medium iris from an old garden
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Pulsatilla vulgaris, Iris ?, Pterostylis curta, Arisaema triphyllum subsp. stewardsonii, Rodgersia pinnata and my favourate named NZ native, Anaphalioides bellidoides.
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Weldenia candida
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Bill, I've had seed-raised bulbs of Calydorea xiphioides for many years now and they never flower - is there a secret to getting them to do so? Judging by your beautiful photos they are very striking little plants indeed.
Ray, not sure about the secret, I grow my Calydorea like so many South African species, in a well drained potting mix in shallow polystyrene trays with plenty of sand and pumice added, in full sun all day. When dormant I store the bulbs or whole container in a cool, dry spot. They also don't like cold wet feet. Hope this was helpful.
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Weldenia candida
Ross, that's a very nice Weldenia candida you got there, one of my favourite plants.
To see your Weldenia in flower, made me rush out and check my plant, and was very disappointed and mad to have lost it, to cold and wet during the winter, I presume.
I should have listened to Lesley, to store it in a cool, dryish place, when dormant.
Now I have to ask (bribe) Lesley nicely, if she could spare me another one ;) ;) ;)
She grows this plant to perfection and supplied many a happy, satisfied people with this treasure.
Is that enough sweet talk Lesley, plus more bribes with Tecophilaea and South African bulbs later. ;D ;D ;D
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Thanks, Bill
I keep it dryish in the winter but the main thing is the top half of the pot is stones to ensure drainage around the crown
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Pulsatilla vulgaris, Iris ?, Pterostylis curta, Arisaema triphyllum subsp. stewardsonii, Rodgersia pinnata and my favourate named NZ native, Anaphalioides bellidoides.
What a great show of plants, Doug, love them all especially the Rodgersia bronze foliage and the NZ native :)
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This time two spidery looking Hippeastrum hybrids, the result of crossing Hipp.cybister with Hipp. aulicum and Hipp.papilio.
Many more cultivars in a wide range of colours are also available, will show a few more later.
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They are lovely, much more elegant than the big, full ones.
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Bill, apart from one of the best plantsmen I know whose nursery staff put his winter pot under a dripping guttering, you are the only person I know to have lost one of my Weldenias. Shame on you. ;D Having said that I can certainly let you have another but not until next spring when I'll have another big one to divide. I may also do a few cuttings this coming autumn. A couple of months ago I sent all my little ones to new homes in the northern hemisphere where they are beginning to flower now. :D And I'm infinitely bribable. 8)
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I don't remember telling you to store it in a cool, dryish place while dormant (what? 10 years ago?) and all mine are either planted in the open garden or in pots out in the open with no winter covering and soil around their necks. I've come almost to take it for granted (which could, of course, be its death knell) but I do keep any cuttings dryish once they have callused in early winter, then they seem to root in early spring.
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I may also do a few cuttings this coming autumn.
Lesley, what method do you use for taking cuttings of Weldenia.?
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This time two spidery looking Hippeastrum hybrids, the result of crossing Hipp.cybister with Hipp. aulicum and Hipp.papilio.
Many more cultivars in a wide range of colours are also available, will show a few more later.
Oooh, Bill. I have been looking for those for ages.
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Michael I do stem cuttings. I've tried the "accepted" method of root cuttings and never produced a single plant that way.
My plants are outside and get very dry in summer but are tolerant of that. However, they get a good watering in late summer/early autumn along with other, finer-rooted plants. They then produce a number of new shoots which really haven't much purpose because the flowering has finished and the plants will die down within 2 or 3 months anyway, so I cut them off, as tender as new asparagus shoots. If you look toward the base of these shoots they have quite faint rings, 1-3, which look like the rings on a bamboo shoot. I figured originally that if the shoot had these divisions, why wouldn't it make roots there? I did just a few as an experiment, dipping the ends into a liquid rooting solution then placing them in damp gritty sand. Winter came and they died down and I forgot about them and stuck the pot under a bench. It became bone dry over winter but in October (mid spring) I noticed a tiny green shoot in the still arid sand.
Fishing in the sand I found a couple had died, a couple had callused and a couple including the green one had incipient roots. So I removed the dead, watered the rest and soon had 4 nice young plants.
Since, I've done maybe 200 this way and now don't let the pot become super-dry but still keep it exceptionally well-drained (grit only in it) and rarely lose a cutting. I pot them about Dec (May to you) and they grow quickly to flower within a couple of months. I like to check that the cuttings have callused before they go dormant, if possible, and from there they seem pretty much infallible.
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Thanks Lesley, I never produced any plants from root cuttings either,that is why I asked.
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A few things in flower now. Then I'd better go and do something outside, and take advantage of a lovely mild day, 21C while it lasts. More rain is forecast.
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This myosotis is from Louise and Peter Salmond, the parents believed to be MM. uniflora, a tiny flowered pale yellow cushion, and capitata, the gorgeous blue from the islands of the southern ocean.
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Myosotis (as) cheesemannii. David Lyttle thinks this is incorrect and this plant may not even be described yet. I should be able to do a better pic later with more flowers. The foliage goes very dark brown.
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Carduncellus rhaponticoides. The grey foliage among it is Salvia chamaedryoides, a beautiful but overly vigorous blue shrublet.
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A strawberry called 'Lipstick' but I'm trying to persuade Cliff that it is Potentilla nitida rubra.
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A Pacific Coast hybrid iris with good colour
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This may be Primula sino-purpurea. It's certainly in the Section Nivales. The stem is abut 30cms tall.
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Ramonda serbica
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Weldenia candida
Ross, that's a very nice Weldenia candida you got there, one of my favourite plants.
To see your Weldenia in flower, made me rush out and check my plant, and was very disappointed and mad to have lost it, to cold and wet during the winter, I presume.
Bill
You have visited the garden here, so you'll have an idea of the shady cool conditions prevalent and being an ex Southlander you'll certainly know what the weather throws at us ,however like Lesley i grow Weldenia o/s with out any protection.Surprisingly they do well and flower in various positions, even in one spot of half shade which receives less than 4 hours sun currently.
As an experiment i've just taken a cutting this morning off the side of one of my clumps.Wasn't sure whether to put it in a 'hooped' plastic bag to give high humidity however our spring has been wet, wet, wet, i'll not bother.
Will be interesting to see the result.
Cheers dave.
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Lesley,
The Weldenia here is growing and multiplying well all by itself without any cuttings or anything. I think it originally came from you, via a few hands in the meantime.... and into mine thanks to Otto. It has done so well that I have divided it up last year, giving away a couple of pieces to other people to pass on the generosity. Mine are each at least 3 shoots in their pots at the moment, with buds becoming visible. None actually up yet, but you can see the whole mechanism sitting there waiting to put up a little piece of white perfection!! ;D With the heat we have here at the moment the flower will probably only last 15 minutes however.... over 30'C here today. :o Yukko.
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Dave that looks more like an unrooted division rather than a cutting which I do from the new growth in autumn. As you say, it will be intersting to see how that one goes but by doing it at this time you are probably sacrificing the flowers on that piece. Also, I'd go for a deeper pot and bury it up to where the green starts.
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Mine aren't in flower yet either Paul but will be just a couple of days I should thing. They are stemless of course and that long tube developes literally overnight so it all happens very quickly.
I'd never bother with cuttings if it were not for the nursery where I want more than half a dozen but otherwise, division gives enough with the mature plant falling into pieces if I dig in in very early spring (August).
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Bill, apart from one of the best plantsmen I know whose nursery staff put his winter pot under a dripping guttering, you are the only person I know to have lost one of my Weldenias. Shame on you. ;D Having said that I can certainly let you have another but not until next spring when I'll have another big one to divide. I may also do a few cuttings this coming autumn. A couple of months ago I sent all my little ones to new homes in the northern hemisphere where they are beginning to flower now. :D And I'm infinitely bribable. 8)
It's interesting and facinating to hear all the various comments and methodes used (especially Lesley's stem cuttings) of propagating and growing this exquisite treasure from all over the world.
Yes I was annoyed and mad with myself professionally, to have lost the Weldenia after so many years of successful growing and showing.
Whatever the reason, I still blame a prolonged, wet and waterlogged cold winter as the main problem. A hard, expensive and valuable lesson learned.
I got my original plant from Stewart Preston the Trillium King, but presume most of the established Weldenia plants must have come from you all those years.
Lesley I am not sure whether you or Stewart Preston told me about the dryish storage requirements/advice for the Weldenia when dormant, either way I am keen and determinate to try again, can't wait and look forward to your generous offer of replacing this charming, precious plant.
BTW:what kind of potting mix would you recommend? What are you using? Would acid or alkaline fertilizer in the potting mix make any difference?
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Bill You have visited the garden here, so you'll have an idea of the shady cool conditions prevalent and being an ex Southlander you'll certainly know what the weather throws at us ,however like Lesley i grow Weldenia o/s with out any protection.Surprisingly they do well and flower in various positions, even in one spot of half shade which receives less than 4 hours sun currently.
Cheers dave.
Dave, thanks for your valuable advice, I will be more careful with the growing/storage conditions next time.
If you ever would like to try out some of our (common or exotic?) bulbs, you'd be more than welcome.